


When Things Come Crashing Down

by angels3



Series: The Crashing Verse [1]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, the crashing verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-10
Updated: 2012-08-16
Packaged: 2017-11-11 20:34:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 74,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/482649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angels3/pseuds/angels3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The guys are back off Christmas hiatus and on their way to a location shoot when <br/>things go horribly wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first ever J2 story. It might be a little more on the rough side than the previous fics I've posted but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Eric was pacing back and forth in front of the main cabin. He wasn't happy, not at all. The plane was over an hour late and no one had advised them that it would be running behind. They were using satellite phones so, damn it, there shouldn't have been any excuses why they hadn't been notified.

This was to be the first week of filming since the Christmas hiatus and today was supposed to be the read through. They were finally doing a location shoot that was more than a few miles from the usual set. It was in a remote section of the tundra and took over an hour to get there by plane.

The crew and all the equipment had made it in last night on puddle jumpers as Kim liked to call the smaller planes that only seated 10 to 15 passengers. They had been lucky enough to find a place with existing structures. The camp had once been a survival outfit that went belly up. These days the RCMP maintained the cabins for use by people caught unawares and for their units on patrol, stopping by every few months to keep them stocked and repaired.

Jensen and Jared were to have been on the last plane out with a few of the remaining props that wouldn't fit on the previous planes. Their connecting flight back to Canada had been delayed but Kim had talked to Jared, letting him know which plane they were taking to the location.

Eric was going to kill Jensen if he had overslept again.

He was continuing to wear a trench in the snow when the door banged open, Kim calling his name as he hurried towards him a frown on his face. Kim motioned him off to the side away from all the activity on the set.

"I just got off the phone with the airport." Kim said in a hushed voice.

"And? Where the hell is the plane?

"It took off on time but 35 minutes in it disappeared off radar."

"What the fuck do you mean it disappeared off radar?" Eric's voice rose as the implications of that statement started to settle in.

"There was some kind of call that came in about the same time but it was so distorted they couldn't understand it. They've been trying to clean it up, they think it may have been a mayday." Kim said worry evident in his voice.

"Well when in the hell are they going to know for sure if it was or not. It's been almost an hour shouldn't they know something by now? Damn it this can't be happening!" Eric's frustration bled into his voice as he ran his hands through his hair.

"They have someone there working on it but I don't know how proficient they are at audio clean up. If our guys weren't here I'd send them over because I know they could pull something off it." Kim was looked around to make sure nobody else was within earshot.

"Get back on the phone, and tell the airport there's going to be someone from the CW over there in under thirty minutes. I'm going to call over to the Smallville set and get Jerry over there. We've worked with him a few times and he's good. If there's anything there he'll get it." Eric said as he headed off to his cabin to grab the other phone.

****************************************** 

It had taken an endless two hours twelve minutes and twenty four seconds for Jerry to call them back and let them know that yes it had been a mayday and that it didn't look good, not good at all.

The fact that the call had been in such bad shape suggested that the crash could have been electrical, causing communications to be lost almost immediately. What little had been gleaned off it was that whatever had happened, had happened quickly with no warning.

One minute the pilot was reporting that they were circling around a storm system then, fifteen minutes later the unrecognizable call came in. The pilot stated that they were going down, that he was dumping fuel but it wouldn't be complete before they hit. He had little to no rudder control, one of the engines had shut down and the other was failing rapidly. He was going to try to glide them in with a belly landing. Their location had been lost in the static. Then nothing.

It took two hours for both families to be contacted and arrangements made for their arrival in Canada. It took thirty minutes after Jerry got back to the Smallville set for them to shut down because two of their stars had left in a run, in the middle of shooting no less.

By the end of the day a search and rescue team had been dispatched, Eric had worn that trench in the snow and Mike and Tom had made it to the camp with packs and determination. Steve, Chris and Chad were all on their way to Canada and a plane was standing by to fly them to the camp. Both families were set up in a hotel closest to the nearest trauma center and Kim was waiting for the second set of search and rescue to touch down.

The units were working from both sides since the plane had gone down pretty much in the middle. The airport had given them the last location of the plane before it fell off the radar but it still amounted to over 100 square miles of territory to try and cover. There was also a big ass storm moving in threatening to dump at least six inches of snow.

Sera had been tracking down what supplies had been on the plane. The hope was that there would be items that would keep the guys alive until help could reach them, provided they survived the actual crash, and that was a thought no one wanted dwell on.

*************************************************** 

The second team didn't make it to the camp until the early morning hours. Having just made it back from another rescue operation it had taken them a little longer because they had to re-equip themselves. They planned to start out just as soon as everyone had eaten and been briefed.

Steve, Chris and Chad made it right as the brief started slipping into the back of the room to sit with Tom and Mike. The gravity of the situation taking hold when Mike's face held nothing but worry and a clenched jaw.

When the brief was over there was a pissing contest over whether the guys would be allowed to accompany the search team. Once they were able to satisfy the team leader that they wouldn't slow them down, get themselves lost or killed and actually had sufficient survival training, they were allowed to suit up and move out with the team.

Gideon had taken Tom and Steve aside feeling like they were the least volitale of the friends. He had asked them how they thought Jensen and Jared would react to being stranded, if they would know how to help themselves with the supplies on the list. Tom assured they had all spent time hiking, and camping. Between the two of them, Steve had no doubt that they would make it. Gideon nodded his head and called for the team to move out they had alot of ground to cover and no time to spare.


	2. Chapter 2

The first thought that came in Jared's return to the world of the living was that his head felt like it was going to fall off. 

That's the last time he was going to mix whatever the hell it was I drank last night together.

His second thought was that he was fucking freezing.

I swear, if Jen thought it would be funny to open the damn window when he dumped me off last night he better not ever get drunk in front of me again or there'll be hell to pay.

When he finally pried his eyes open and looked around, he realized he wasn't in fucking Kansas anymore. 

Wouldn't Dean be so proud? And what the holy hell happened?

He leaned his head back on the seat, trying to remember the last few minutes before something had tried to take his head off. He had gotten up to poke around in the back, trying to see what was being hauled to the set. He had wanted to find something he could booby trap to get Kim back for the jello fiasco.The next he remembered was the plane dipping dangerously to the right and anything not strapped down flying at him.

He was pretty sure he heard someone yelling at him to get belted in, which he must have done since he was still attached to the seat and not hanging from a tree somewhere. Then there was horrendous noise like metal being ripped open by bear claws, a plunging drop, a hard bounce, then another and everything had gone black.

Jared leaned forward, opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings for the first time. He was looking at snow and frost covered land. The plane had been sheared in half and he had an open view to the outside world from his seat. He couldn't see the other part of the plane which he thought was fairly odd since he had been in the back, shouldn't the front....... you know have been in the front? 

His head was throbbing as was his wrist but nothing else seemed to be physically wrong. He had the feeling that he was forgetting something important and, if his damn head would shut up for a minute, he would remember what it was. He was unstrapping himsef when he started to panic.

There had to be other people on the plane right? A pilot, at least, and who had been yelling his name? He tried to calm his racing heart while he thought back to the night before, getting in from Texas, laughing at Jensen because he had to wear his glasses because his contacst were buried at the bottom of his bag.

Mother Fuck ,Jensen! Where the hell was he? 

They had gotten on the plane in Canada to get to the location of the shoot. Jensen had been on the plane. He had been the one yelling to him to get strapped in.

Jared struggled with the straps trying to get them off, panic rising as he hollered Jensen's name and got no response. He finally managed to get the belt off and pushed himself forward, intent to find Jensen. Unfortunately, his body didn't cooperate. His vision grayed out and he swayed backward, falling back into the seat.

He sat there a minute, trying to catch his breath and clear his sight. He brought his hand up to his head where it was trying to pound out the loudest tango it could, and came away bloody.

Well that might explain it, he thought, but damn if he had time to worry about that because he had to find Jensen, and he had to find him now.

This time when he pushed up he moved slower, keeping his hand on the back of the seat to steady his ascent and stay vertical. When the world stopped spinning, he slowly made his way down what was left of the back half of the plane. When he came to the gaping hole he was almost afraid to go past it, scared of what he might or might not find.

He scanned the view in front and off to the side of him, the rest of the of the plane wasn't there. Jared took a deep breath, stepped down and made his way around, trailing his hand along to keep himself grounded and prepare himself for what he might see. When he finally cleared the tail section he almost pitched forward.

The front of the plane was listing to the right, wing missing, and the cockpit crumpled around a huge set of boulders. He could see an arm hanging out of the shattered side window ,bloodly and limp. Jared gasped for air just realizing that he had been holding it. He moved forward as quickly as he dared on wobbly legs, taking in the deep groves cut in the earth where the back half of the plane had kept slidding when it split in half and the front had been stopped by the rocks.

He crawled up high enough to get to the arm hanging down. Jared reached up searching for signs of life, there wasn't any but he refused to give up. Thinking he may have missed the pulse in the wrist, he continued to pull himself up, gritting his teeth at the pain in his wrist. When he finally came even with the window and gingerly pulled the pilot off the yoke and back into his seat, he knew there was no hope, there wouldn't be a pulse to find. Jared reached up and closed the pilot's eyes, he rested his head against the plane catching his breath and praying that he would find Jensen, if not unharmed at least alive. 

Jared slid down the rocks as quickly as he could, as soon as his feet hit the ground he was moving towards what was left of the front section, dodging wreckage, large gouges and clumps of tortured earth left behind by the slide of the cockpit. He rounded the opening, pushing wires out of his way calling Jensen's name the whole time, searching the inside looking for his best friend, knowing that if Jensen hadn't survived a large part of himself wouldn't have either.

He knew that Jensen would have stayed strapped in. Being a nervous flyer he didn't come out of his seat unless it was absolutely necessary and most of the time he only undid his belt was when Jared picked on him and Jensen was trying to prove he wasn't worried. He continued up the aisle, kicking things out the way until he could see the last two sets of seats right before the cockpit, his sharp intake of breath and stifled yelp mixing with the creaking of bent and twisted metal.

Jared made his way to the front row so he could lean across and get a good look at his friend. Jensen was slumped forward in his seat, straps still holding him upright. His face was bloody. A gash ran across the top of his head at the hair line on his left side still seeping blood. From the blood on the window it looked as if his head had been slammed into it at some point during the crash. Jared reached out with a trembling hand to feel for the one thing that would allow him to breathe again.

His fingers made contact with frigid flesh. Pushing Jensen's collar out of the way searched for the the carotid artery. Jared's breath left him in a great exhale, his head falling forward on the back of the seat as he let out a sob of relief. The thump thump of Jensen's heart was there, a little slow and thready but there and right then that was all that mattered.


	3. Chapter 3

Jared's relief at finding Jensen alive quickly turned into desperation. He was starting to fully realize just how screwed they were. He had been scared to move Jensen but he needed to know just how badly his friend was hurt.

He crawled in beside Jensen trying to determine the best way to move him when he encountered an even bigger problem. Jensen's foot was pinned under the twisted metal of one of the seats in front of him. It took Jared almost two hours to find a toolbox in the crushed cockpit and unbolt the seat enough to work Jensen's foot out.

Jared had managed to find a couple of blankets and had wrapped them around Jensen to try to and keep him as warm as he could. He carried on a one sided conversation the entire time, talking to the other man as he worked to free his foot. His fingers grew numb and his wrist throbbed but he refused to give up until he could get Jensen out of the seat and assess any other injuries.

Jensen hadn't made a sound, not even a moan the whole time Jared was checking him to see if there was any more damage, and it was scaring the ever loving shit out of Jared. Other than the head trauma and busted ankle, he only found various bruises and minor cuts. They needed to be cleaned but they could hold off for just a little while.

He was torn with the need to stay with his friend and the need to find anything that would help them survive till help showed up. He finally made his way back to the back section of the plane, praying there would be something there that would help.

He found the padding that they used for cushioning falls during stunts and a couple of wooden slats that he had no idea what they were used for but figured they may come in handy. One of the crates held some of their wardrobe and a small locker style box held a whole host of junk which looked interesting. Jared almost passed out when he found the knife box that held all the real knives not the stunt ones.

He pried off the side to one of the crates and used it to pile all his finds on, then he had to figure out how to pull damn thing, because he was doing this in one trip. He had already been away from Jensen longer than he was comfrotable and he wasn't going to be leaving his friend alone again anytime soon.

There weren't any ropes but there were moving straps and if that wasn't enough he figured he could use the seat belts, using one of the knives he sliced through what he needed, working until he had a fairly efficient harness to use. Once everything was in order he snugged the strapes across his shoulders and made his way back to his friend.

Jared's head was keeping time with the throbbing in his wrist and he didn't know how much longer it was going to be before he threw up, but Jensen needed him, so his own aches and pains were just going to have to wait, damn it. He hadn't even realized just how tense he had been while he had been gone until he saw his friend laying right where he had left him. Jensen's color had improved from blue/gray to just plain gray but Jared was happy with any sign of improvement at this point.

Jared separated the items into piles trying to organize what he had to work with. Once he had things where he wanted them he started assembling a makeshift stretcher. He took the crate side and laid the padding out on it followed by a layer of clothes. He moved Jensen as gently as he could but let's face it, six foot something of dead weight wouldn't be easy for anyone to move much less someone with a bummed up wrist.

He tore some of the lightweight shirts into strips and, using a couple of pieces of scrap metal, tried to immobilize Jensen's ankle as much as possible not wanting to damage it any more than it already was. Jared decided he would scour the cockpit once he had rested just a little. He crawled onto the stretcher and using the remaining clothes and the blankets, bundled them both up before he drifted into sleep, unable to keep his eyes open any longer.

************************************************************************

Jared startled awake, his mind shying away from the nightmare he had been having. He continued to lay there, eyes closed going through the events of the last few hours and assessing his own condition. His headache was almost completely gone and the pain in his wrist had mellowed to a dull throb.

Sometime during his nap he had shifted and now found himself plastered to Jensen's side, nose buried in the crook of his neck, arm slung around Jen's waist. If he hadn't been so warm he might have been just a little worried by how right that felt, but wrote it off as bodies seeking warmth and relief that his best friend was alive and relatively well next to him. The hard on, that was nothing but needing to pee, really.

Jared stepped outside to take care of that problem when he heard his name being called, and almost broke his neck when he tried to turn around and run back into the plane with his pants around his knees. That would have been great, survive the plane crash only to die while trying to take a leak.... Yes, that was, all he'd been doing, damn it!

************************************************************************

Jensen had been having one of the best dreams he'd ever had. He was wrapped in strong arms, he felt safe and content. When he tried to bury himself deeper in the feeling his body protested, loudly, every bruise and cut flairing to life with one purpose in mind, to remind him just how much he hated........ wait, just what was it that he hated? This certainly didn't feel like a stunt gone wrong. This felt more Evel Knievel's guide for what not to do when performing death-defying acts of stupidity. What the hell had happened?

In the next heartbeat it all came crashing back, the plane, yelling for Jared, the crash and then nothing. Jensen couldn't even comprehend his situation. All he knew was when he opened his eyes and looked around, he didn't see Jared. He refused to believe that his karma was bad enough that the one person that never deserved anything bad to happen to him hadn't survived. Then he was doing the only thing he knew to d,o he was calling Jared's name, praying and begging every known deity that his best friend was okay.


	4. Chapter 4

Jensen was in full on panic mode, his breath coming in short, harsh pants as he tried to free himself from the cocoon of material that was wrapped around him. His mind vaguely registered that someone had moved and wrapped him up, but it didn't cut through the panic clouding his head.

His vision blurred forcing him to lie back before he passed out. He could taste the acidic burn of bile in the back of his throat, as he fought the need to vomit. His head felt like he had been on a week long binge, not that he knew what that felt like.. Really, he didn't! That coupled with the nausea was a pretty damn good case for him having a concussion.

Jensen really didn't give a damn about that, he just wanted to know where the hell Jared was, and if it meant his head fell off and rolled under one of the mangled seats so be it. He pushed back up on his elbow, trying to move the mountain of junk piled on top of him with his other hand........ What the hell was all this shit anyway?

********************************************************************************************

Jared had managed to get his pants buttoned and was making his way back, trying not to slide down on the fluids that had been leaking from the plane. He didn't realize he hadn't answered Jensen until he couldn't hear his name being called anymore, which sent a spike of fear through his body.

He rounded the edge of shredded metal, scared that he was either hallucinating or that Jensen had lapsed back into unconsciousness. What he actually saw didn't make him much happier Jensen was struggling to get off the makeshift stretcher, his freckles standing out in sharp relief against the pale background of his face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jared's voice came out louder than he meant it to.

Jensen's head snapped up, taking in Jared's appearance before he sagged back onto the pallet. His chest heaving with his efforts to get up and the relief that Jared was alive and standing in front of him. The lump in his throat kept him from answering his friend's question. The adrenaline rush that had been coursing through his system had fled at the sight of Jared and his body felt it had ran a marathon.

"I was trying to find you, since you didn't answer when I called your nam. What happened Jay?" He asked trying to get his emotions under control before he embarrassed himself and did something stupid, like grab Jared and not let him go for the next fifty years.

"The plane went down, no warning no nothing, it just went down. One minute I'm poking around in the back, the next your hollering to get belted in. I don't know, you were up front did the pilot say anything before we went down?"

Jared cringed realizing he was going to have to tell Jensen the pilot hadn't made it. He sank down on the pallet next to his friend, needing to be as close to Jensen as he could now that he was awake.

"I think he said something about the panels shorting out and then the engine on my side just stopped. I don't really remember anything else after shouting at you." Jensen opened his eyes not realizing he had closed them against the pounding in his head. He took a closer look at Jared seeing for the first time the amount of blood matting his hair.

"Jesus Christ, Jared are you all right?" Jensen breathed. He reached up and grasped Jared's chin gently, turning his head so he could get a closer look at the head wound.

"It doesn't look like it's still bleeding. Are you dizzy or nauseous, any blurred vision or vomiting?" Jensen asked his voice going a little higher with each symptom he named off.

"No, no, no and no mama. It hurt like a son of a bitch when I first came to, but it's just a little headache now." Jared assured, watching Jensen relax a little at the information.

"Did you get hurt anywhere else, and don't even think about lying to me? You're a shitty liar." Jensen tried to keep the tension out of his voice as he imagined all kinds of injuries hidden under Jared's layers.

"Calm down, you sound like your channeling Dean. My wrist is the only other thing that took a beating, and it's not broken, it's more like a bad sprain." Jared said as he held out his wrist so Jensen could see he wasn't trying to hide a mangled limb.

"How about you tell me if you've had any dizziness, nausea, blurred vision or vomiting and while you're at it tell me what else hurts." Jared continued, jaw thrust forward as if he was waiting for a fight.

Problem was Jensen was just too damn tired to lie and too happy that Jared seemed to have come out of the crash in good enough shape, to fight. It just seemed like spitting in the face of good fortune to do either, so he took inventory of his aches and pains. Watching Jared out the corner of his eye, Jensen had an uncontrollable need to keep Jared where he could see him, afraid if he let him out of his sight he would disappear.

"Yes, yes, no, no and my head feels like someone set a group of kindergartners loose with bongo drums. My ankle hurts and I can't seem to move it." The more he focused on his ankle and not being able to move it the more it hurt and ratcheted his panic into overdrive.

"Jared, why can't I move my ankle? The fear was evident in Jensen's voice as he struggled to sit up intent on getting to his legs, concussion be damned.

"Jensen, stop before you hurt yourself, it was pretty beat up and I braced it with some metal and wrapped it to stabilize it. I don't know if it's broken or not, the swelling was so bad that I couldn't tell. Ihadtocutoffyourboot."

Jared ducked his head adding the last part in a rush, hoping it wouldn't get him killed When he got the nerve to look up, Jensen was just staring at him mouth gaping open. 

"Damn, I loved those boots! You can at least help me up so I can take a look at it, because not knowing is going to drive me nuts." Jensen replied, grinning at Jared's look of relief not to be murdered over Jensen's favorite pair of boots.

Jared helped him sit up slowing the older man's ascent when he tried to move to quickly not wanting him to pass out. He moved the bundles of fabric out of the way as carefully as he could so it wouldn't catch on the brace. Jared watched while his friend shifted his foot, getting his first look at the offending limb. Jared could tell the swelling hadn't gone down and the bruising had deepened to dark purple and black combination. He stood up, but was stopped when Jensen reached out and grabbed his leg.

"Where are you going?" Jensen tried to keep his tone steady but he knew he failed miserably, panic forcing him to ask.

"I'm just going to find something to pack some snow in, the swelling in that ankle hasn't gone down any." Jared replied waiting untill Jensen had loosened his grip. Jared felt like he had lost something important when his friend's hand slid away.

"Wait, can you help me up?" Jensen said looking up at Jared.

"What do you need? I'll get it for you." Jared said as he squatted back down in front of Jensen.

"I don't think you're going to be able to help me with this Jay." Jensen snickered at the confused expression on Jared's face.

"Why the hell not? I've taken care of everything else so far!" Jared was pretty sure his face was an unappealing shade of red as his temper flared.

"Well unless you can take a piss for me, I'm pretty damn sure I have to do this one myself." Jensen was actually shocked at the uncharacteristic anger he had just witnessed but decided with everything that had happened so far that Jared's stress level had to be through the roof. He knew his would have been if Jared had been the one unconscious for hours.

"Oh" Jared stuttered out. "Sorry," he said hanging his head and giving himself a mental smack for acting like an idiot. The thing was, he couldn't even figure out why he had gotten so mad. If he was honest with himself, he'd admit to wanting to take care of Jensen, and that thought just confused the ever lovin' shit out of him.

Jensen waited, watching the different emotions flicker across Jared's face, until the need to relieve himself couldn't be denied any longer which really was a blessing because it was never a good thing to let his friend stay inside his own head to long. Yea.... So what if he was the pot calling the kettle black? It was true.

"Come on Jay, help me up before I do something I haven't done since I was three."

Jared helped pull the older man up, steadying him when he swayed, and keeping the weight off his injured foot. He carefully guided his friend over the debris, making a mental note to kick the shit to the side once he had Jen settled again. They slowly made their way outside, where Jared left Jensen leaning against the plane to take care of business. Jared moved back into the plane to move things out of the way to make the return trip easier to maneuver.

Jensen squinted against the sunlight and the glare it cast reflected off the snow and ice. His breath hung heavy in the brittle cold of the early afternoon. It took a little longer to navigate taking a piss while balancing on one foot, and the act itself seemed to take forever. He was zipping back up when the thought that had been lurking in the back of his brain finally made it's way to the forefront. 

"Jared, where's David?" Jensen raised his voice so he could be heard wherever his friend had disappeared to.

Jared's head popped out around the side of the plane looking puzzled, worry evident in the crease of his forehead.

"Who?"

"David, the pilot."

Jensen saw Jared's shoulders slump and his eyes shift to the ground in front of him. He hated to even think about what Jared had gone through while he had been unconscious, but he needed to know just how bad it was.

"Jared, did he make it?"

Jared gave a small shake of his head and a mumbled "no" before taking a deep shuddering breath. Shit we are so fucked, was already ringing in Jensen's head, but he needed to take care of Jared first. From the defeated line of Jared's body, Jensen was guessing it had been pretty bad. He did the only thing he could think of at the time and pulled his friends focus away from whatever memory was plaguing him to something he could do to take his mind off it.

"Jared, can you help me back in before my dick freezes and falls off?"

"Oh, yea, just let me get that snow pack ready , and then I'll get you settled."

Jared quickly packed snow into a thin nylon bag he found and wrapped the bag in a tee shirt, before helping Jensen back onto the pallet. He tried to keep his mind off the moment when he had seen the hand hanging out the window, terrified it had been Jensen even if logically he knew it wasn't. He used some of the torn up shirts to tie the snow pack in place and covered up the rest of Jensen's leg, keeping his head down as he worked. He could feel Jensen's eyes boring into the top of his head but he couldn't seem to make himself meet his friend's gaze.

Jensen watched Jared work on his ankle keeping his teeth clenched against the pain, refusing to give the younger man anything else to beat himself up over. When he couldn't take the silence anymore he reached out a hand to cover Jared's as the other man was tucked the covers around his leg.

"Jared your freezing. Get under here for a little while. We can figure out what we're going to do while you warm up." Jensen pulled back the blankets as he spoke.

The space on the pallet wasn't really conducive to two very large adults laying side by side so Jared shifted to his side propping his head on his hand so he could look down at Jensen while they talked. He had an uncomfortable feeling that the warmth seeping into his bones wasn't completely explained by being under the mounds of covers, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.

Jensen shifted as little as possible because every move caused him to brush against Jared, and his body was taking notice, damn it. To keep his mind off the temptation that was his best friend, he started cataloguing everything he thought would help them survive until help showed up. He went over the conversation he had with the pilot while waiting to be fueled, the weather reports he had listened to while waiting for their plane, and finally all the information he had accumulated over the last several years of filming in Canada.

Jared watched the quicksilver thoughts passing across Jensen's face and wondered why he had never noticed just how much you could read about what was going on in his friend's head by watching his expressions, and more specifically his eyes. He kept silent while Jensen processed everything that had happened.

Jared had seen Jensen disappear into his head while studying a script or getting into character, it was the older man's way of grounding himself in what needed to be done to get the job accomplished, and damn if this wasn't one great big ass job needed doing now.

Jensen finally looked over, focusing again on Jared and he was a little startled by the intense expression clouding his friend's normally happy countenance. He cleared his throat, trying to regain his train of thought. He knew they had a lot to do , and he wasn't going to be able to help that much. Jared had been asleep on the plane ride into Canada and was just barely coherent when they boarded the plane, Jensen knew that he had no idea just how bad it was going to get.

"Jared, have you checked around the plane to see what we can use besides what you've found to take care of me?" Jensen asked, making Jared jump slightly from the unexpected noise after the companionable quiet they had been laying in.

"No, I was to worried about leaving you for too long. It took me awhile to get this together and make sure you didn't become a Jennysicle." Jared grinned at the scowl, his friend gave him over the hated nickname.

"Okay, this is what I see as our biggest problems and not necessarily in order of importance. Tell me if you can think of anything else, okay? We need to find food. Water we can get by melting the snow. We need to make sure they can see the plane and we need to decide if we're going to stay here or try to find one of the forestry service cabins they keep for hikers." As soon as Jensen had finished talking Jared's stomach growled making them both laugh.

"Thanks Jen, I hadn't even thought about food until you said something. Why do we have to decide if we stay here or leave? Why the hell would we leave?" Jared asked clearly confused as to why they would leave a decent shelter and strike out into who knew where.

"Because there's a huge storm rolling in and thanks to me being in lala land we only have about a day, day and a half tops to either make this place as tight as possible or to find one of the cabins and dig in until it passes. I don't know if the rescue teams will find us in time. We had to deviate from our flight plan circling another storm, and I'm not sure they know where to search, so it's going to take them longer than it normally would to locate us." Jensen explained worry creeping into his voice.

"Shit," Jared breathed before looking around at the crumpled compartment.

"I don't know if we can weather proof this enough not to freeze to death, not with you out of commission." Jared glared at his friend when he tried to argue and say he could help.

"You're not putting any weight on that ankle, and speaking of which, we need to take a look at the swelling and put some more ice on it. When I finish that I'll start scavenging and see what I can find. If you're good, I may let you come sit and watch me." Jared finished off his little show of control with a very mature sounding humph.

Jensen just grinned, relieved that Jared's ever present optimism was holding out. He watched as Jared unwrapped his ankle noting the swelling had gone down some but not enough to test and see if it was broken. Jared took the bag out refilling it with snow and rebound the ankle before slipping it back under the covers. Jensen gritted his teeth, but this time he was trying to ignore the erection that he developed at such an inopportune time, rather than the pain from the offending body part.

He watched Jared as he made his way to the cockpit, flinching when he saw his friend visibly square his shoulders before pulling himself up and out of sight. Jensen was frustrated with his inability to help as well as not being able to spare Jared another encounter with a dead body, something that the younger man hadn't said anything about but Jensen knew was eating him up inside. He had just lain back trying to release some of the tension in his shoulders before his head started to pound again when he heard a startled yelp.

"Jared? Jared? Jay! What the hell happened?" Jensen was off the pallet pulling himself towards the cockpit heart in his throat when he got no answer.


	5. Chapter 5

The angle the plane had come to stop at made getting to the cockpit an absolute pain in the ass. Jared came to a halt right outside the narrow opening, trying to prepare himself for seeing the pilot, no, David, again. It felt inconsiderate to keep calling someone who had died trying to keep them alive, by anything less than his name. He had been in such a panic to get Jensen out of the seat, that when he had gotten the toolbox he hadn't even registered David's body.

Jared pulled himself up the rest of the way using his good hand and braced his elbow on the side panel to keep from sliding backwards. He flopped ungracefully into the unoccupied seat, studiously keeping his eyes averted from David's battered body.

He located a radio, map, and first aid kit , but he wanted to make sure he found everything  
so he wouldn't have to come back again. He pushed himself off the chair, keeping the backs of his leg against the edge to keep from falling. He was leaning across the console to pull out a piece of paper that was peeking out when his foot slipped , and he lost his balance, falling backwards.

Jared yelped as his injured wrist buckled and snapped back, all his weight coming down on it as he tried to catch himself. He finished his fall by landing in the seat again. The pain radiating from his wrist blurred his vision, causing him to pant to get the nausea under control. Once he could hear past the beating of his heart in his ears, he heard Jensen shouting his name. This is becoming a habit, he snarked.

Jared could hear shuffling coming from behind him and knew that his friend had abandoned the relative warmth of the pallet to find out why he was being ignored , and if he didn't do something real quick he would be have to deal with a scared Jensen which was actually more frightening than a pissed Jensen , though not by much.

"I'm alright, I just slipped." Jared raised his voice so he could be heard over the racket Jensen was making.

"Bullshit. You don't make sounds like that when you slip, you cuss, so don't even try to tell me all you did was slip." Jensen fired back as he continued to methodically make his way to the front of the plane, pulling himself along hand over hand.

"I said I was okay, now get your ass back to that pallet , and I'll be back out in a minute, mom." Jared said rolling his eyes at the muttered curses filtering in from the back.

"I'll take my ass back there when you get your yeti self back here and make me. I may not be able to kick your ass right now but I can still wring your damn neck." Jensen bitched back as he made it to the last row of chairs before the cockpit.

"Damn." Jensen breathed out as he got his first look at the seat he had been sitting in and the one in front that looked like a tornado had hit it.

Jared continued to search the rest of the cockpit area finding a duffle bag and a sleeping bag crammed over beside the co-pilot's seat. He quickly added them to the pile, glancing around one more time to make sure he hadn't missed anything. He remembered the smell of cigarettes when he boarded the plane and neither he nor Jensen smoked so that left David.

He braced himself for what he knew had to be done. He carefully shifted around till he was facing David's body and gripped the arm of the seat to keep himself steady as he searched the man's shirt pocket for a lighter or matches. His fingers finally closed around the object he was searching for and he pulled back with an audible sigh.

"What the hell are you doing up there Jay?" Jensen finally asked when the silence became deafening.

Jared swore and jumped a foot. "I thought you went to the back, don't do that shit you almost gave me a heart attack."

"No, I told you I won't going anywhere till you brought your ass back out. Did you find anything?" Jensen asked, eyes still locked on the seats, wondering how Jared had managed to get him out of that pile of metal.

"Yea, since you're being hardheaded I'm going to pass the stuff out to you. Just slide it down , and we'll collect it once we get back down there."

"Alright, while you're at it, why don't you tell me how you managed to get me out of that mess over there and how my foot got hurt." Jensen said as Jared started handing out supplies.

"Well once I finally found your half of the plane......."

"What do you mean when you found my half of the plane?" Jensen interrupted totally confused.

"You'll have to see it to believe it, anyway let me finish. When I finally found your half of the plane and crawled in you were out cold, your foot was trapped under the seat in front of you so I had to disassemble it to get you out." Jared huffed pushing the last of the supplies out and carefully lowering himself to the floor so he could slide out.

"Oh, so you made the great big mess of metal," Jensen grunted as Jared slid into him.

"No, smart ass, it was already a huge disaster, I just added my own special touch to it. Let me get around you , and then you can slide down with me in front so I can keep your foot from jamming into anything." Jared said as he braced his feet against the seat so he wouldn't be out of reach of his friend as he maneuvered around until he was sitting between Jensen's legs.

Jared looked back with a quizzical expression when Jensen didn't move in behind him.

"Hey Jen, we gonna get a move on sometime today? We still have to search the other half and get ready for tomorrow before we can get some rest." Jared's eyes searched his friends face trying to figure out why he wasn't moving.

Jensen shook his head, gritting his teeth at the thought of being wrapped around Jared, and not in the way he'd fantasized about either.

"Yea, sorry, I'm ready whenever you are." Jensen said as he scooted up till his chest was almost against Jared's back.

By the time they made it back down to the pallet, they were both breathing a little heavier. Jensen was trying to keep his crotch from coming into contact with Jared's ass and that thought right there was enough to make his brain short out. He figured Jared was just winded from the climb up and then guiding both their bodies down the incline without damage.

Jared, on the other hand had been faced with his body's reaction when halfway down Jensen had placed his hands on his waist to keep from slamming into him. The rest of the way down all Jared could focus on was the whisper soft touch of Jensen's breath across the back of his neck, and the burn of Jensen's hands through his layers of clothes. When his body started responding his mind started to have a melt down.

Once down Jared shifted away, he mumbled something about being right back before shooting out the back and disappearing from view. Alarm bells may have gone off at any other time but Jensen was pretty relieved since it gave him time to get his very disobedient body under control before he made a complete jackass out of himself. When he could move again without his pants feeling like they were going to cut off important body parts, he started going through the things that Jared had found.

Jared spent the next fifteen minutes pacing back and forth out of view of the windows, not wanting his friend to witness him going bat shit crazy. He couldn't figure out what in the hell was wrong with him. Jensen was his friend, his best friend in fact, not to mention that he wasn't gay or at least he never thought he was. He of course had noticed the way his friend looked, hell you'd have to be dead not to, but he had never really thought about it before and now that he had, he couldn't seem to get it out of his head.

Maybe it was the insane situation or the fact that he and Sandy had broken up over the Christmas break, something he had yet to tell Jensen. He had been going to wait till after they were back in Vancouver not wanting to have to deal with it right away, the location shoot providing a distraction. The bad thing was, the distraction wasn't even about him being upset over the break up, it was the fact that he really wasn't anything but relieved about it, and that right there worried him more than anything. Well that was until just a few minutes ago. Now he had even bigger worries , and he wasn't even counting freezing to death.

Jared decided that if he didn't get back inside Jensen would be pulling himself out into the snow looking him so he pushed his issues to the background. He made his way back coming to stop just inside, Jensen was turned to the side pouring over one of the maps that he had found. Jared stood watching as Jensen's brow furrowed in concentration,. He had the almost uncontrollable urge to smooth his hand across it and make everything okay.

Jensen looked up when Jared plopped down in front of him. Jared reached out and grabbed his friend's injured leg bringing it up to rest on his knee. Jensen watched as Jared slowly unwrapped the bandages and pulled the metal away. The swelling had actually gone down considerably and Jared started testing the bones to see if any were broken, beginning at the ankle working his way over the heel of Jensen's foot and down the arch all the way to the his toes . Jared was amazed that someone that was over 6' tall and hit the gym religiously could have bones this delicate.

Jensen couldn't decide what was turning him on more, watching Jared's hands move over his foot or feeling them. He just knew that he had finally accomplished thinking without his dick , and now he had lost all higher brain functions, again. He didn't even have a foot fetish, damn it. His breath hitched just a little and Jared looked up at him, an unreadable expression mirrored in his eyes.

"Ticklish" Jensen blushed as he tried to explain the noise.

Jared looked at him for another couple of seconds before breaking into a huge grin. "Good to know."

"I don't think it's broken. I couldn't feel any noticeable breaks , but that doesn't mean they're aren't hair line fractures somewhere. Since we have a first aid kit, I'm going to wrap it but you're still not going to be able to put any pressure on it," Jared said as he took out a stress wrap and some bandages. He took care of Jensen's foot quickly and efficiently not lingering any longer than necessary. He was putting the roll back when Jensen reached out and grabbed his wrist gently, causing him to drop the bandages.

"I just slipped." Jensen mimicked. "I slipped, my ass! You hurt your wrist again, didn't you. It's swollen at least twice what it was earlier. What the hell happened?" Jensen asked scowling at his best friend for trying to cover up his injury.

"Hey, I did slip, I just didn't tell you I caught myself with the wrong hand." Jared's jaw jutted out waiting for Jensen to call him on his bullshit, and he didn't have to wait long.

"Well you better damn well tell me from now on. We can't afford for an injury to get worse because it's hidden. Now give me the damn bandages so I can take care of it. Then we can go search the other half of the plane and get a game plan set." Jensen grabbed the roll out of Jared's hand. He checked his friend's arm starting between the elbow and wrist slowly working his way down, paying careful attention to the wrist and making Jared wiggle each finger.

Jared watched the top of Jensen's head as he was bent over inspecting his wrist. Despite the cold, his friend's hands felt warm and his touch was gentle. Jensen's touch was so light Jared wondered how he could feel any breaks, if there were any. Course he had done just fine while checking Jensen's ankle, keeping the touch sturdy enough to find damage but light enough not to cause any extra pain.

"Nothing seems to be broken but you have a world class sprain. Once I put the wrap on it should feel a little better. You want to look through this stuff first or go on over to the other part and scavenge? Jensen asked as he worked.

"I think I need to go through the other part while there's still a fair amount of light." Jared held his breath waiting for the inevitable.

"Um. No. We're going to go to the other part and look around." Jensen said as he finished taping up the bandage.

"Jen, come on it'd be faster if I just went over and brought everything back. You can stay put and go through the supplies I pulled out of the cockpit. There's no sense in us both slogging over there and being cold," Jared reasoned knowing it wasn't going to work but trying anyway

"What if something happens? You want me dragging myself through snow when you don't come back? I guarantee I won't be warm then. We both go over. Besides with two looking, it shouldn't take as long." Jensen shot back, thinking about the last couple of times Jared had been out of his sight and the panic it had caused.

"Fine, let me help you get up, and we'll go on over. Maybe while we're there we can find something to use as a crutch, because I gotta say you must have had a good Christmas dinner." Jared grinned knowing that was definitely going to get a rise out of his friend.

"What the hell Jay, you trying to say I'm fat?" Jensen sputtered looking completely appalled as Jared fought to keep them balanced when he broke down laughing.

"Oh my God you should have seen your face, priceless. I wish I had a camera right then." Jared gasped for breath, both from the laughing and Jensen's elbow in his side.

"Yea, you keep laughing it up and you're going to find yourself face down in a snow drift, funny guy." Jensen mumbled as they made their way slowly around the side of the plane.

When they had finally cleared the nose Jared was pulled to a complete stop when Jensen froze. Jared had forgotten just how bizarre it was to see the back of the plane before the front. He felt tremors running through Jensen's body and was just about to suggest going back, thinking his friend was shivering from the cold, when Jensen turned and looked at him with huge eyes.

"How the hell did that happen? " Jensen breathed eyes again searching his friend for additional injuries he was sure had to be hiding.

"Not a clue, told you it was something you had to see to believe didn't I?" He watched as Jensen's eyes continued to roam over his body, the intense scrutiny causing a strange butterfly feeling in his stomach.

"I'm fine, honest Jen, believe me, I came away pretty lucky, to be honest, we both did." Jared said as he nudged his friend, trying to get him to focus on the here and now, instead of what could have happened.

"Yea, we were. Let's get it over with, see if we can find anything to keep us going, Jack." Jensen snarked, trying to ease the tension in his body.

"Funny, somehow I think our situation sucks worse dude. No sun, no beach, no babes and no ready supply of food. All we got is snow," Jared retorted.

"True, true, but we also don't have freaky people nabbing us and a weird ass clock of doom, so I think we made out better," Jensen joked as they made their way into the back of the plane.

Jensen plopped down in the seat closest to the pallet of boxes as Jared started looking for something they could use as a skid to pull whatever they found, plus double as a sled for when they left. It had to be lightweight so that even with Jensen and supplies weighing it down it wouldn't dig into the snow. Jared finally settled on a fairly large chunk of the plane's skin that had come loose during the crash. It was thin enough to skim across the snow and not catch, but it was thick enough to support the weight it was going to have to pull.

Jensen had started plundering through the crates that were open and easy to reach, pulling out anything that looked useful. Jared stomped back in, knocking snow off his boots as he made his way to the unopened crates, prying them open and handing smaller boxes and cases out for Jensen to look through. Jared was almost to the bottom of the last crate when he let out a loud yell, startling Jensen so badly he almost fell off the seat.

"What the hell, Jared?"

"They packed my candy, I just found it." Jared stuck his head around the corner grinning from ear to ear.

"Shit, you give me a heart attack over candy! I swear, if you do that again they won't find the body." Jensen growled.

"Sorry, but when I found it, I remembered how hungry I was." Jared poked his lip out looking at Jensen from under his bangs.

"Jesus Christ, don't do the eyes man. Fine, I'll make sure they find the body." Jensen couldn't help smiling at his friend as he ambled over holding out the candy like a peace offering.

"I'll share." Jared grinned, waggling the box back and forth.

"You better share, after scaring the shit out of me not once, not twice, but three times today." Jensen reached over grabbing a sour stick.

Jared gave him a funny look but dug into the candy making all kinds of noise that had Jensen's body reacting like an oversexed teenager. Jensen had never really been confused or ashamed about his sexual preferences. He just liked his private life to be private. He had dated women and the studio made sure he was photographed with enough of them, but he had always known that both physically, and emotionally he would always choose men over women. He had never liked labeling people. It was a useless exercise in separation and prejudice. He was the way he was meant to be, and he was not only comfortable with it but happy as well.

He had never discussed it with Jared, and while he felt like his friend knew, he often wondered if it wasn't something that he should have brought up at some point during the last two years. Jensen knew that Jared had seen him flirting with guys and, in fact leaving with them but his friend had never said anything and he had never mentioned it. If he was honest with himself, and he usually was, he knew he was just a little afraid that it would change something between them and he was selfish enough that he didn't want to lose the unexplainable bond they shared.

The problem was, over the last year he hadn't gone out with any guys. Oh, he had flirted, but he didn't go home with them. He was pretty sure he knew why but had done a pretty damn good job of keeping it a secret from himself. Well, that was until the plane decided to fall out of the sky and turn his world into a soap opera's worst story line. The desperation he felt when he had woken up and not seen Jared couldn't even be thought about much less described. Every time Jared had disappeared from sight, his heart rate doubled, he broke out in a cold sweat, and he sounded like he had ran about five miles. Jensen was pretty sure that was the definition of an anxiety attack, which would perfectly describe what happened when he wasn't near Jared......anxiety!

Jared closed up the candy tin, tossing it onto Jensen's lap as he stood up, stretching to his full height, working the kinks out of his back. He started dragging the supplies that they had opted to keep to the skid while Jensen looked around for something that would be the right height for a crutch and could take his weight. He finally settled on a length of slightly rounded wood that must have been part of the set, since the practical use for it, he couldn't fathom. He used some of the bubble wrap that had been used in packaging the crates to wrap around the top part, and topped it off with a shirt from wardrobe. It wasn't perfect, but it'd do in a pinch.

Jensen tried out his new crutch, slowly moving up the aisle, getting the hang of what way to lean and how close to keep his steps so as not to end up on his ass. He made it to the end of the plane, looking out onto the snowy landscape, thinking how deadly it could be but at the same time, the absolute unfettered beauty it held. Jared reappeared from the side of the plane dragging the harness he had made, giving a startled squeak when he saw Jensen standing there.

"Would you stop doing that! I swear I'm going to die of a heart attack before I die of exposure, and why are you up anyway?" Jared fussed.

"I need to see if this thing would work or not. I wasn't going to wait till we have to move tomorrow to find out it was useless." Jensen explained.

"Yea, but you're still dizzy and don't tell me you're not because you're standing there swaying. Now sit the hell down before you fall," Jared shot back, moving up beside his friend and helping him sit down on the floor.

"Fine, but I'm going to use this on the way back to the front section. I need to get used to it, and we've both been out in the cold long enough. There's no sense in you making two trips when I can get there myself." Jensen conceded but refused to give up all control.

"We'll go as far as you can, but if you start getting dizzy again I'll pull you the rest of the way. Right now, I'm going to load up the sled and get the harness attached, you my friend, are going to sit there and rest." Jared responded on his way to the back to grab the first stack of supplies.

Jared made several trips back and forth until he had everything loaded. He made sure as he loaded it to leave space in case Jensen needed to rest. Jared understood his friend's need to have control in an uncontrollable situation, but he wasn't going to let that need overshadow his injuries and let him do more damage. He had done a lot of thinking about Jensen since his mini freak, which when he broke it down, wasn't even about being attracted to a man, even though that still took him by surprise, it was more about the fact that he was attracted to his best friend.

The more he pondered the situation, the more he realized that Jensen pretty much embodied all the characteristics he found attractive. His friend, although private and at times insanely shy, was also very thoughtful, loyal to a fault, extremely smart, absolutely hilarious, and loved his family above anything. Jensen also had the ability to put people at ease, making them feel at home and comfortable no matter the situation. That especially held true with kids. All the children they worked with automatically gravitated to Jen. It was like, he had an extra gene sequence encoded that screamed 'kids welcome'. He never treated them like, they were stupid just because they were young. He answered their questions and explained what was happening on the set, and he never talked down to them, he talked to them just like he would anyone. Last but not least, Jen loved Sadie and Harley, and they loved him. Sometimes he even got a little jealous of the attention the dogs showed Jensen, or maybe it was the attention Jensen showed the dogs, come to think about it.

While Jared had been thinking, they had made it back to the other section of plane, and he helped Jensen settle down on the pallet before bringing in all the supplies. It was starting to get late, and luckily they had not only found a flashlight but also a battery run lantern. They had already decided that with all the fuel and flammable liquids that had been spilt, a fire was not a great idea. Jensen had settled down under the covers with the maps trying to figure out in what direction to head while Jared went about organizing their supplies into groups. He was pretty damn happy with the haul. There was definitely more here than what any of them used when they went camping, but then again, they were in a totally different environment from where they normally went.

Jensen had finally decided on them heading east. The plane had been heading north, and it had taken a more easterly heading to circle the storm. From the looks of the maps, which had been marked, presumably by David, there were three forestry cabins along the eastern side. They looked to be at least 25 miles or more apart which, depending on exactly where they had landed could be good or very very bad. Jared had three stacks of supplies by the time he finished combing through everything.

One stack included, a tent, sleeping bag, small sterno stove, pot, several piles of clothes and blankets. The second stack held a couple of flashlights, extra rope, knives, a small pick axe, radio, and the lantern. The last stack, and quite possibly Jared's favorite, was mana from heaven. Okay, maybe not heaven, it actually was from catering but hey, whatever. Jared had found a dozen or so boxes of dry goods including cereal, crackers and granola bars. There had also been several cans of fruits and vegetables as well as some soups. Apparently the catering crew had thrown in some last minute requests along with Jared's candy. He had to make damn sure when they made it back that Eric gave catering a raise.

They had sat and gone over their game plan, covering everything that they could think of that might go wrong and what needed to be done. They discussed the best way to travel, how to make the sled more manageable and how to mark where the plane was so that once they made it ou,t they could come back for David's body. Jared had crawled in next to Jensen after getting all the supplies together, and was barely keeping his eyes open when Jensen folded up the map and announced they needed to get some rest since tomorrow was going to be a bitch.

Jared set his watch to go off at six am, so they could have as much travel time in daylight as possible, hoping they could make it to one of the cabins before it got dark. Jensen had already lain down and managed to turn on his side now that his foot was free from the metal brace. He seemed to sense Jared's worry about where to lay.

"Jared just lay down man, I promise not to bite." Jensen murmured half asleep.

Jared just grinned, nudging his friend over a little before lying down on his side and resting his arm across the older man's waist. "Well if you do, you better damn well have had your rabies shot."

Jensen just snorted before sleep overtook him, Jared not far behind


	6. Chapter 6

Day 2 

* Rescue Team*

Gideon was watching Steve and Tom carry on a heated conversation with the rest of the men that had joined the team from the corner of his eye. The only reason he had agreed to bring them along was they had experience, and he knew if he had left them, then they would have just followed him anyway. He figured this was the lesser of two evils, but watching Steve and Tom try to calm the other three down he wasn't so sure he had made a wise decision.

Gideon had taken Steve aside and told him that the first team had been about five hours in when they had stumbled across three hikers, one with a broken leg and the other two teetering on the edge of hypothermia. They had been forced to turn back, not comfortable with only a partial team heading into what looked to be a complete white out.

Gideon's team was breaking camp so they could detour to one of the forestry cabins roughly fifteen to twenty miles out to avoid being caught in the storm. The helicopter was still running search grids starting from the actual flight plan and working it's way outward, but it would soon be grounded as well. He understood how frustrating it was to not be able to reach someone you knew needed help, they just didn't have a choice.

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Chris was beyond pissed. He was livid. He knew the reasons, he even understood them, but it didn't make it any easier to know that his friends were stranded in fucking zero degree weather, more than likely hurt, with a huge storm rolling up their asses. Steve had taken him aside to let him know that the first team had pulled out to get some hikers to safety, mother fuckers, and that they were being diverted to avoid the worst of the storm.

"You know as long as one of them is conscious, they'll make sure the other is taken care of, right?" Steve had said trying to find something to hold onto himself.

"I know that man, but what if neither of them is in any shape to look after the other? What if ....." Chris broke off swallowing around the lump in his throat.

"Damn it, Chris, have some faith would you. Those two are too damn stubborn to go out this way. They'll be lording it over our heads the next time we hit the bars." Steve cut off Chris' spiral into the unthinkable.

He glanced over to where it looked like Tom was having the same conversation with Mike and Chad. He could see the mulish set of Mike's jaw and the disbelief on Chad's face and knew that Tom wasn't having any better time breaking the news to the other two men. He knew that Mike and Tom knew Jensen pretty well, having worked with him, and since Jensen didn't go anywhere very often without his overgrown giant of a costar, Jared had become just as important to them as well.

Steve noticed that Chad tended to stay on the outside, he could be a royal pain in the ass, and really, the only one that could take him in huge doses was Jared, but overall he was an okay guy. There was no doubt that he thought of Jared in the same way that Chris and himself thought of Jensen.

Steve always thought that there wasn't a serious bone in Mike's body, but he was starting to realize that he had hidden depths, and some of them were pretty fucking scary, going by the look on Mike's face. Tom must have just told them that they were heading to the cabin, and it didn't look like he was taking the news to well.

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"Mike, listen to me." Tom begged "We can't go without them, we're not going to do Jensen and Jared any good if we get caught in a blizzard."

"I don't give a shit if we have to burrow through ten foot of snow on our knees, we can't leave them out there like that," Mike growled back.

Chad had been pretty quiet since his first outburst of disbelief. Tom was sincerely happy he only had to deal with one fight at a time. Chad's face was a study of misery, which Tom was sure he mirrored. It had to be the worst possible feeling to know that your friends were in danger and there wasn't anything you could do. Not knowing how badly they had been hurt, or if they had even survived was about to rip them apart.

"I'm not happy about it, but Tom's right, we're not going to be any help if we have to be rescued. It's just going to take longer to get to the guys," Chad finally responded, breaking his silence.

Tom shot him a grateful look, surprised at the unexpected support. It wasn't that he thought Chad would be difficult, well any more difficult than Mike, but Chad wasn't necessarily the most long term thinker of the bunch.

Gideon stood up clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "It's time to move out folks. I know you're not happy about it, and neither am I, but the team comes first, or there won't be anyone to take care of the second, which is the rescue. Now we've got about fifteen, twenty miles to haul before we get to the cabins and about ten hours to get there, then we still have to make sure it's storm ready."

"First things first though, stay with your buddy, no more than two people side by side and at least a ten foot gap between each pair. The last thing we need is not to see a patch of thin ice and half the team takes a very unhealthy dip." Gideon's eyes swept the team making sure no one had any questions.

When everyone moved back to their supplies and started loading up, he slid in beside Tom, quirking his eyebrow when Tom gave him a questioning look.

"Am I going to have to post sentries?" Gideon asked.

Tom snorted at the visual of Mike sneaking past flashlight armed guards, making it outside only to fall into a snow drift, his little bald head shining in the moonlight.

"No, I'll make sure Mike behaves. If he even thinks about it, I'll tie him to me," Tom finally replied.

"Kinky," Gideon mumbled, grinning when Tom's faced turned about three shades of red.

Tom decided it was probably better to let that ride because Mike didn't need any firepower in embarrassing him.

"Chad's not going to be a problem. He's not happy, not that any of us are, but he understands that causing problems will only hold us up," Tom said as he threw his pack on. "You need to talk to Steve though, if any one is a wild card it's Chris. He's a great guy, but he doesn't handle his friends being in trouble and not being able to do anything about it. He'll do what he thinks is right and worry about the consequences when he's ass deep in block of ice," Tom explained.

"Well then I better check in with him then," Gideon stated, eyes already scanning the milling people looking for Steve, finally spotting him several feet away.

"Hey Steve, can I talk to you for a second?" Gideon raised his voice to be heard over the conversations being carried on around him.

Steve and Chris both looked up from where Steve was helping Chris get his pack balanced.

"Yea, be right there," Steve called back, finishing with the pack and handing Chris his gloves.

Gideon watched as Steve made his way across the snow, glancing up to get a read of Chris' body language. It didn't take him long to tell Chris was vibrating with tension and barely controlled temper. Gideon also noticed that Chris didn't take his eyes off Steve as he walked the short distance to meet him.

"Yea man, what's up?" Steve asked as he got close enough not to have to raise his voice.

"We going to have a problem?" Gideon questioned, still watching Chris watch Steve.

Steve glanced back at Chris, a small frown on his face when he turned back to look at Gideon.

"No, I can handle him. It just takes a special kind of reasoning," Steve answered.

Gideon finally shifted his gaze over to Steve. "I let you all come with us because I knew if I had left without you, that I would have been stalked the whole way, and it's safer for everyone if you're where I can keep an eye on you." Gideon held up his hand stopping Steve's denial. "I also wouldn't have let you come if I didn't think you could help, but I'm not going to be able to put down a mutiny and concentrate on what needs to be done to get your friends out of here alive," Gideon stated.

"I understand Gideon, you won't have to worry about it. I'll make sure he stays out of trouble. Chris just has a hard time not being able to help his friends, and he and Jenny have been friends since..... well since forever really," Steve replied rubbing his neck trying to relieve some of the tension.

"Jenny? The intel said there was only a pilot and your two friends, no one said anything about a girl. The passenger list doesn't have her on it either," Gideon stated confused, already reorganizing supplies and emergency information in his head to support another victim.

Steve snickered. "Sorry, that's what Chris, and I call Jensen. He hates it, so we take every opportunity to use it," Steve explained. "I just hope we get another chance to annoy the shit out of him," he said with a small sad smile.

Gideon's hand came up to rest on Steve's shoulder, squeezing in silent support. "We'll find them, and if they're anything like their friends, then they're going to be just fine." Gideon dropped his hand at Chris' approach, noting the scowl on the man's features.

"What now?" Chris said as he moved to Steve's side.

"Nothing, we were just talking about how hardheaded the guys are, Gideon seems to think if they're half as stubborn as we are then they'll be just fine," Steve explained.

"Shit, if that's the case, then we'll probably meet them halfway," Chris responded as he reached up placing a warm hand on the back of Steve's neck. "Come on, let's go get your pack, so we won't hold everybody up."

Gideon watched them move back to their supplies. He really was looking forward to finally meeting their friends. Gideon had seen a lot of family and friends in his years of rescue. They had ranged from tormented, desperate, bitchy, volatile and even apathetic, but he didn't think he had ever had any quite so devoted before. He shook his head, offering a silent prayer that things worked out. He honestly didn't think he wanted to see this group of men brought to their knees, and he had no doubt if the outcome was not favorable, he would be witness to it.

Gideon's whistles shrilled through the group, "Time to move out. Anybody have any last many questions or concerns?" He looked around finding nothing but solemn faces. "Alright then let's move out."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Jensen and Jared*

 

The morning was bright and bitter cold, something neither man noticed, because they were too busy caught in the argument they were in.

"Jensen, it makes more sense for me to pull you until I get tired, and then you walk," Jared tried again for the tenth time. Okay, it was only the third, but damn it, Jensen just needed to suck it up.

"Your wrist doesn't need the extra weight on the sled, Jared," Jensen growled, clearly exasperated.

"I'm not going to be pulling with my wrist Jen, that's why I made a harness, so I could pull with the rest of me!" Jared flung his good hand around indicating the rest of his body.

"Fine, but I say when you're tired. You'll keep going until you drop if I let you, and then we'll both be in deep shit," Jensen huffed, not that we aren't already, flashed through his head.

Jensen had already made up his mind that unless he gave in, they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon because when Jared decided what was best for you, he wouldn't budge. They didn't have the time to waste so Jensen would do the next best thing and make sure Jared stopped when he needed to. Jared finished loading the skid, leaving room for Jensen. He grabbed his friend's duffle, throwing it on last.

They had pulled out extra clothes to add to their layers they had on, and then combined essential items into Jensen's bag, which was a little better insulated against wet weather. He returned to the plane just in time to catch Jensen sliding what looked like several sheets of paper into his inner coat pocket. Jared had a good idea what they were because he had been debating doing the same thing. While he knew Jensen would never give up, his friend was also anal about being prepared 'Just in case' as he always said. Jared just couldn't find it in himself to write down what might be his last wishes to his family.

"You ready, Jen?" Jared asked moving further into the plane.

"Yea, just looking at the map again. I want to make sure we give anyone looking for us as much information about which way we headed," Jensen replied, as he folded the map up and tucked it in his pocket. Jensen grabbed his friend's offered hand and the crutch keeping his weight off his ankle. The less jarring it took now, the longer he could hold out on his own while they tried to make it to one of the cabins.

"Here you take this to the back section of the plane and leave it," Jensen said as he handed Jared a copy of the directions of where they were going. "I'm going to find somewhere to leave this one where they will find it."

Jensen waited until Jared cleared the exit before slowly pulling himself back up the incline to the cockpit, using his crutch to keep from sliding back down. When he made it to the doorway he thanked every higher power, that he had put so much time in at the gym, because without it, there was no way in hell, he would have been able to pull himself up far enough to slide the paper, covered in bubble wrap under David's seat harnesses. Jensen had purposely not told Jared where he was going to leave the note, knowing Jared would insist on doing it. Jensen had made up his mind that his friend had seen enough death, and by God, Jared wasn't going to see any more if he had anything to do with it.

When Jared walked back in, Jensen had managed to make it about half way back down the aisle. It had been much easier to navigate the return trip the first time with Jared acting as a bumper guard than it had been this time. Jensen cringed, knowing he was about to hear it when he heard Jared's startled gasp, and he didn't have to wait long.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Jared's voice boomed across the plane as he moved up the aisle to help his friend down.

"Um, trying to get down without killing myself?" Jensen squeaked, trying to use his version of the dreaded puppy dog eyes.

"Don't even try that shit on me," Jared growled. "What were you doing up there?"

"I was leaving the note Jared. It's one of the first places they're going to look when they find the plane." Jensen mumbled, deciding that looking contrite might work better than 'the eyes'.

"Why didn't you give it to me to do, you've got no business climbing up there with your ankle like it is." Jared still couldn't believe what he had seen when he rounded the corner.

"Because you've seen enough shit Jared. I didn't want you to have to go through that again, damn it!" Jensen tried keeping his voice even, but he wasn't succeeding very well.

Jared took a deep breath, reigning back on his first instinct of letting Jensen know what he thought of that logic. He would have done the same thing if their positions had been reversed. Jensen hadn't done anything but try to protect him, and while he was pissed that his friend had not only had to experience a face to face with death, but had put himself in danger as well, he couldn't help but feel a warm fluttery feeling in the pit of his stomach that was slowly spreading throughout the rest of his body.

"Thank you," Jared said softly, before leaning down and grabbing the rest of the blankets on the pallet.

Jensen's mouth was left hanging open where he had been prepared to defend his decision. "No problem," he replied gruffly.

"We need to get moving, we're wasting daylight, so how about you go get your ass on that skid," Jared said as he walked by, smacking Jensen on the afore mentioned ass.

Jensen nearly choked on his tongue trying to come up with an appropriate comeback. All he managed was indignant stuttering, damn overgrown-manchild. He had no idea what he was playing with.

Jared grinned all the way to the skid. It was rare that he could shock his friend into speechlessness, not to mention he still owed Jensen for that damn Bugs episode. He knew that deep down there had been other motivations, but he refused to examine them. His mama's favorite saying however kept ringing in his ears - you play with fire you're gonna get burned.

Jensen had finally managed to get himself under control and hobbled out to the skid, rolling his eyes at Jared's grin. Settling himself in the spot left open for him, he waited for Jared to start moving, so when his friend appeared at his side with blankets, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Jared leaned down throwing the blankets across Jensen's lap, tucking them in to keep as much of the wind out as possible.

"Jared exactly what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm making sure you stay warm, what does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to be moving so I'll stay warm. You on the other hand are going to be sitting with the wind blowing right on you so you need to keep warm. We can't afford for you to catch pneumonia," Jared snarked happily, knowing that no matter how he said it, Jensen was going to be about as happy as a wet hen.

"You know when we do finally get home, there's going to be hell to pay, right?" Jensen said through gritted teeth.

"Yep, I'm counting on it Jenny," Jared cackled as he dove away from Jensen's fist.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Rescue Team**

 

They had made it about halfway to the cabins before Gideon called a halt for an extended rest. The team had stopped every couple of hours to rest, grab an energy bar and down some water. Each stop had been no more than fifteen minutes, but this was going to be at least an hour to give people time to drop their packs and relax overtaxed muscles.

Gideon motioned Steve over when everyone had settled. "They're giving the helicopter another two hours and then they're grounding it," he told Steve once he had taken a seat.

"Why so early? I thought we had until at least tomorrow afternoon before the storm came in?" Steve asked.

"It's being pushed by a front that they didn't think would come into play so it looks like it's going to make it to us by tonight or early tomorrow morning," Gideon replied, concern for his team and the stranded men evident in his voice.

"Well fuck," Steve breathed, looking over at the other men. This was going to send them all over the proverbial cliff. "Have they found anything so far?" He asked, hoping he could at least have something good to tell the others."

"No, they're still doing the grid search. When I made contact the last time, they did tell me they had some fresh sets of eyes looking over the terrain to see if they could narrow the possibilities. They're also not going to send the first team back out until the storm passes." Gideon couldn't keep his disappointment out of his voice.

Steve nodded his understanding and stood up to make his way back. "Let me know when they ground the helicopter and anything else, you hear?" He patted the team leader on the shoulder as he walked by. There was no way in hell, he'd have this job. The stress alone would kill you.

Chris met him halfway back, shoulders rigid with tension. "What did he say?"

"Come on, I'll tell you, just as soon as we sit down my legs are killing me." Steve knew putting off the inevitable wasn't going to make it any easier, but he honestly didn't think he could say it twice and live through Q&A after.

Chris seemed to understand, leaving it along until Steve had a chance to drink some water. Steve looked around at everybody before taking a deep breath.

"Gideon said that they're going to ground the helicopter in another two hours." Steve held up his hand stopping the barrage of questions before they could get started. "They're also not sending out the first team again until the storm passes. There's a front that's pushing the storm in faster. It should be on top of us by tonight, early morning by the latest."

"So what does that mean for the guys?" Mike's brow was furrowed in worry.

"It means that if they are at the plane they better batten down the hatches, and if not, they better move their asses," Steve sighed, shoulders hunching in under the worry for his friends.

"Son of a bitch," Chad muttered. "Do we even know if they knew about the storm?"

"No, but if I know Jensen, he checked the weather forecast. He always does right before he flies." Chris said, trying really hard not to picture Jensen frozen in a plane seat.

"He doesn't like to fly," Tom said quietly, "That's why he checks the weather."

Steve pushed his hands through his hair. "Yeah, I know."

"Mother fuck, this sucks elephant balls," Mike bitched.

Conversation was cut off when another one of Gideon's earsplitting whistles cut through the air.

"Breaks going to be shorter folks. We just got word the storm is bearing down on us, and we're going to have to double time it just to get there before it hits us." Gideon raised his voice to make sure he was heard. "Be ready to move out in twenty."

Chris stood up, moving in the direction of Gideon, but Steve's hand shot out and grabbed his calf.

"Where are you going?" Steve asked, fearing the real possibility of Chris killing the team leader.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I'm not going to kill your boyfriend," Chris assured, patting Steve's shoulder as he walked past.

"Chris don't you dare do anything that could keep us from getting to the guys faster and, what the fuck, he's not interested in me you psycho."

"I'm not going to do anything stupid, don't get your panties in a bunch. I just need to ask him something. I'll be right back," Chris said as he slipped out from under Steve's hand.

Steve dropped his head in his hands groaning. Nothing good ever came from Chris asking questions. He looked up and caught Tom grinning at him.

"It's not funny, you fucker! How about you deal with Chris, and I'll take Mike and Chad?" Steve begged.

"I don't think so," Tom sing-songed, while Chad and Mike glared at them for being talked about right in front of their faces.

Gideon tensed when he saw Chris headed his way, not liking the way the guy was prowling towards him. He felt like a baby seal right before the shark's jaws closed around it, not a good feeling at all. He opted for a non threatening stance, arms held loosely by his sides, and shoulders relaxed, while he watched Chris stride within five feet of him.

"I'm not going to start anything, contrary to Steve's paranoia," Chris stated when he stopped in front of Gideon. "Just do me a favor, though. Next update run it through Tom or me. Steve doesn't need to be the one to always have to deliver the bad news, he's under enough stress."

"No problem man. I hope the next update won't be bad news. We're due some good about now," Gideon responded, still keeping a careful eye on the man in front of him.

"Ain't that the fucking truth," Chris said as he turned to go.

Gideon let out a small breath of air, relaxing further now that he wasn't on the menu for supper anymore. Which of course left him completely unprepared for Chris to swing back around and close the space between them in two seconds flat.

Chris leaned in, voice low in Gideon's ear. "Oh, and don't fucking touch him again," Chris growled, as he pulled back pining Gideon with an intense look before turning around and heading back to his friends.

Gideon stood frozen for a minute, feeling a frightening companionship with that baby seal before what Chris had said sank in. "Oh, oh shit," he said out loud. He hadn't seen that coming. The more he thought about it the bigger his grin got. He decided he just might like Chris after all. The man had balls, that was for sure.

Steve watched the interaction closely making sure he wasn't going to have to haul Chris off the team leader. When Chris turned around and started making his way back with a psychotic glint in his eye and a little extra swagger in his step, and Gideon's shell-shocked expression, Steve groaned, dropping his head back into his hands again.

"What did you do, you asshole?" Steve asked when Chris sat down next to him.

"Why do you always think I did something?" Chris asked with a smug look still plastered on his face.

"Um, maybe because you always do," Steve shot back.

"Christ, man take a pill, I just told him the next time he had news to tell Tom or me. You don't always have to be the bearer of bad news," Chris retorted.

"Yea, and that was all you said, I don't think so," Steve growled.

"Well now sweetheart, that's between him and me," Chris said, patting Steve's knee before dodging the kick that was headed his way.

"If you call me sweetheart, or any other bullshit endearment you can think of before we find the guys, you're not going to be making it back to civilization," Steve hissed through clenched teeth.

"Touchy, touchy," Chris taunted as he grabbed Chad, using him as a human shield just in case. Steve could be right vicious when he set his mind to it.

"Shit man, keep your lover quarrels to yourself. I have enough domestic trouble," Chad gripped pushing Chris off him and picking up his pack.

Gideon watched the circle of friends letting off steam, still shaking his head grinning. It was time to get moving, they still had a lot of ground to cover. He whistled for silence, and proceeded to let everyone know they would be moving out in five minutes. He estimated at least another four hours before they made it to the cabin, and then they needed to get storm ready. His mind wandered to the three men waiting for help, he really hated when shit didn't go the way he wanted.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Jensen and Jared*

 

Jensen had made Jared stop every two hours, taking at least fifteen minutes to just sit and rest. They would scoop up snow and let it melt, making sure they stayed hydrated. Then Jensen would ignore Jared for the next hour as his friend tried to get him back on the sled. Jared finally gave up after the second cycle of beating his head against a brick wall. It probably was a good thing Jensen was being completely pigheaded. Jared knew how he was, even if he didn't like to admit it. The well timed rests and the break in pulling less weight kept him from overdoing it and made sure they stayed within the time limits, they had set for themselves for reaching one of the cabins, provided, they hadn't already overshot it on the landing, but Jared refused to even consider that option.

Jared kept a close eye on his friend as he negotiated ice and snow with the self-made crutch. It would sink down in the snow where there wasn't a layer of thick ice underneath. He wanted to make sure Jensen didn't end up in the snow. They really couldn't afford for one of them to get sick. Jared knew that not only was it important to his friend to be in control, it was imperative that he feel he pulled his own weight and not hold them back, and while he understood that need, it frustrated the hell out of him at the same time. Jared realized that he had growing desire, no, an uncontrollable need to take care of Jensen, and the longer, he watched his friend soldier on, the stronger the urge became. Damn, he was so fucked.

They had been traveling for eight hours, neither really talking, trying to keep oxygen starved lungs filled and strained, burning muscles motivated, when Jensen called a halt at least thirty minutes earlier than they normally stopped. Jared just dropped backwards onto the sled, breath heaving in and out, while he waited for Jensen to explain the unscheduled stop.

"It's five now, we only have maybe an hour, hour and a half left of good daylight. I think we need to set up the tent and try to get some rest," Jensen said as his worried gaze took in his friend. "We can pull up stakes at first light, maybe find one of the cabins by late morning."

"How far do you think we've made it today?" Jared asked, worry coloring his words.

"Somewhere between fifteen and twenty. I think we need to go another five, and we should be near the tree line, which from the looks of the markings David did, is where all the cabins sit."

"The temperature has dropped about ten degrees in the last two hours Jen," Jared's said quietly.

"Yea, I know. I think the storm may be getting here earlier than predicted. Let's get the tent set up, and everything settled before we lose the light."

Jared could feel the worry rolling off his friend as they set the tent up and used all the wardrobe clothes to line around the inside of the tent, making a nest-like space before rolling the sleeping bag out in the space left over. Jensen pulled the tarp they had decided to take at the last minute over the sled, packing snow all the way around to keep it from coming loose. When they had done as much as they could Jared crawled in the tent pulling Jensen with him before zipping both the tent flaps up and pushing his friend's crutch against the doorway.

Jensen, sat there in a complete trance. He didn't even register Jared pulling his one boot off and pushing him back into the blankets and covering him up. Jared knew his friend had worn himself out keeping up the pace all day. He was just surprised Jen had stayed conscious long enough to get into the tent. Jared pulled his own boots off wrapping the blankets securely around their feet to keep the warmth in before draping himself across the other man. He didn't even bother trying to figure out what he was doing, he was exhausted, scared and cold. Jensen shivered a little and Jared wrapped his arm around his friend's waist, pulling him even closer.

Jared figured there was no way Jen was going to wake up anytime soon, and if he did well, fuck it, they had to stay warm. Jared pushed his face into the nape of Jensen's neck breathing in the smell. Jared had never been able to place it, he just always thought of open fields, sunshine and home. Jensen whimpered in his sleep, body jerking a little with whatever dream he was having. Jared reached up, running his fingers through the older man's hair until his breathing evened back out, and he shifted backwards, seeking more contact.

The last thought to cross Jared's mind before sleep claimed him, was how right this felt.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Rescue Team*

 

Mike had stopped talking three hours before and Chad was walking with his head down just trying to keep one foot in front of the other. While they went camping often, and they were all in great shape, trudging through snow for miles on end was enough to wear anyone out, including the seasoned team members. When the two cabins came into view, they were too tired to even get excited and they still had to bring in wood and make sure everything was secure and ready before old man winter started his bitching.

Gideon set everybody on task as soon as they hit the front doors and within three hours everything was as ready as it was going to get. The temperature had fallen significantly, and no one had to say what everyone was thinking. Exposure was the number one killer in these cases. Gideon had sent the friends over to the smaller cabin and the ten team members took the larger. The cabins were there for shelter and safety, they had never been meant for comfort, the basics really being the only thing there.

The smaller cabin had a couple of cots, a small table, sink, and stacks of blankets. The larger cabin mirrored those accommodations, the only difference being there were four cots there. Both cabins had pots and pans to be used in the fireplace and there were canned foods, granola bars, as well as packaged meals that you only needed to add water and heat over a fire. The guys had brought in as much firewood as they could, staking every available space with wood, only leaving enough space for everyone to crash.

Just before they had settled in for the night Gideon pulled Chris aside and told him that the helicopter had officially been grounded as of two hours before. They still had not spotted the plane and they wouldn't be allowed to go up again until the storm passed and visibility cleared. Chris nodded his head, expression grim, before leaving to share the news with everyone else.


	7. Chapter 7

Day 3

*Jensen and Jared*

 

Jensen woke with a start, heart slamming in his chest. He lay listening to the wind howl around the tent like it was trying to rip it apart, leaving its occupants vulnerable and exposed. He couldn't believe he had fallen asleep. Jared had pulled him into the tent, and he sat there trying to come up with the best plan for the morning, and then.... nothing. It was like everything just shut down. He vaguely remembered Jared pulling off his shoes and tucking him in and then he must have lost his battle with exhaustion because he didn't recall anything after that.

It was still dark out, and he wasn't sure if that was because it was still early or if the storm was blotting out the sun. When Jensen tried shifting to his back, he found it impossible to move. Jared was completely wrapped around him. Okay, actually Jared was pretty much draped across him, and damn if the Padalecki throw wasn't the new thing in personal heating blankets.

Every time Jensen tried to scoot out from under a limb, Jared would grumble in his sleep and pull him that much closer. Jensen really didn't think he could get any more up close and personal until his last effort to slide a leg loose was thwarted. His friend wrapped his five foot long appendage, and no that appendage was not what he was talking about although, damn, Jared was apparently proportional, around Jensen's body part and effectively blocking the escape attempt.

Jensen finally gave up, resigning himself to the soft puffs of air stirring his hair as Jared nuzzled into the back of his neck, and the hard ridge of his friends erection pressing into his back. Jensen ground his teeth and tried to distract his attention from his own throbbing hard on. He mentally listed all the supplies, revisited the map in his mind, and tried really hard not whimper every time his friend moved and Jared's body rubbed up against his.

An eternity later, which Jensen discovered when he finally untangled his arm from the cocoon, was actually only thirty minutes later, he gave up. He allowed himself to sink back into the heat and safety of Jared, it wouldn't hurt just to pretend for a little while. Jensen had wanted this for so long, not just Jared, but the feeling of belonging, of being loved and protected, and Jared gave him those things without trying or even knowing it. Jensen sighed, relaxing into the feeling completely, as he gave himself back over to sleep.

****************************************

Jared woke slowly, trying to place the annoying noise that wouldn't let him fall back to sleep. Everything snapped back into focus with the silence left behind as his watch alarm stopped. Jared felt the length of Jensen attached to him, warm and alive as he breathed deeply reassuring himself with the scent of his friend. He finally opened his eyes, to drink in the visual image of the man he had his arms, alright fine, his whole damn body wrapped around. Jensen was facing away with his back to Jared's chest. Jared lifted so he could prop himself up on his elbow with his head on his hand.

The tent was lit with the soft early morning light, casting a warm glow across Jensen's face. Jared's gaze moved from the soft sun streaked silky hair to the long sooty eyelashes resting across Jensen's cheek, the freckles fanning out over his friends nose and curving down to the three days growth of beard along Jensen's jaw, the red's and blonde's glinting in the sun's path. 

Jared couldn't resist the urge to touch, his mama always told him he was a touchy feely kid. He ran his finger lightly along the curve of Jensen's jaw, the hair both soft and rough under his fingertips. Jensen stirred as Jared was reaching out to run his finger along the line of the older man's nose. Jared pulled his hand back and moved to put some distance between him and his friend, gently shaking Jensen's shoulder to finish waking him up.

________________________________________

*Rescue Team*

 

Mike and Chad had taken the cots, Tom taking the floor in between, stating there was no way in hell his six foot plus frame would fit. Steve and Chris had also taken the floor for obvious reasons. It took the five friends a long time to settle and then none of them had slept well, at least one of them being awake at any given time worrying.

Steve rolled toward Chris as he listened to the wind steadily pickup. He wasn't fond of wind in any format, not since a tornado had almost wiped out his band's bus on its way to one of their gigs. Chris breathed out a curse before wrapping his arms around his partner and pulling him closer.

"The wind?" Chris murmured.

"Yea," Steve whispered back "What are we going to do if they didn't make it?"

"They made it." Chris responded with more certainty than he felt. "There's no way Jenny is going out that way, you know how he hates the cold."

Steve snorted, "Which is hysterical since the man loves to ski."

"Yes, but since when has Jensen ever been logical in his likes and dislikes?" Chris smirked. "It's kinda like him appreciating a nice rack but all he really wants is a really long, hard umph............" Chris was cut off with an elbow to the stomach.

"What?" Chris whined rubbing his abused body.

"That's you, you ass. Jensen's too busy admiring Jared's attributes to notice anything else." Steve smirked as Chris poked his lip out.

"Oh, well you know what I mean, and do you have to be so violent?" Chris pouted.

"Thank you," Steve leaned over kissing a line across Chirs' jaw before ending at his mouth, sliding his tongue in to stroke across his lovers. 

"Yea, well next time I endeavor to get your mind off of unpleasant things I expect hazard pay or at the very least a suitable reward." Chris grumped.

"Next time we're going to dump both of you in the snow," Mike supplied as a well aimed pillow caught the two men in the head. "Now shut up and go to sleep."

"We love you too, Mikey. You want to join the circle of free love?" Steve goaded as he threw the pillow back.

"Not from you fuckers, I might go into diabetic shock." Mike rolled over looking down where the other two were laying.

"What do you think their chances are? Honestly," Mike asked quietly.

"If they made......" Steve started.

"They made it," Chris' jaw was set in stone as he stared into the dark.

"Fine, the one thing we have to remember is that they look out for each other. No matter what happens, they'll make it because they're in it together. Jen isn't going to let anything happen to Jared, and vice versa." Steve finished feeling just a little better himself as he stroked Chris' arm waiting for him to relax again.

"I'm glad that if it was going to happen, they were both there. Can you imagine what would have happened if one of them were here with us right now having to wait?" Mike shuddered just thinking about the stubbornness that was Jensen, and the powerhouse of Jared, not to mention those puppy dog eyes, fucking lethal.

"God, we would have to sedate Jensen. I swear I think he lives in Dean's head to much." Chris cringed just thinking about a missing Jared and what that would do to his friend.

"Jared would come up with some grand plan, and no matter how unorthodox or dangerous, he'd have everyone double timing it before they even realized what a bad idea it was." Chad entered the conversation, voice low and husky with emotion.

"Sorta like that time he thought it would be awesome to jump off that cliff into the lake and didn't bother to mention that it was like fifty degrees. I thought Mike was going to kill him." Tom said from his spot on the floor.

"Fucker just laughed his ass off. I was fucking blue for twenty four hours and all Jensen could do was make smurf jokes, and Jared kept whining about wanting blueberries cause, I was making him hungry," Mike grumped.

"Yea but you look good in blue," Tom snickered.

"Would you like Jamie to be a widow by the end of the night?" Mike growled.

"At least he didn't talk you into letting him wax your eyebrows," Chad cringed remembering. "You do realize how easily sidetracked he is, I had to shave the other one just so I didn't look like a total freak."

Steve was begging for them to shut up, he couldn't breath and his sides were killing him. It felt good to laugh and talk about their friends without feeling like they were already going to their funeral. Chris finally had to sit up and bend over trying to catch his own breath. Tom and Chad had given up all pretense of trying to sleep and Mike had gone in search of coffee or hot chocolate which ever he came to first, he never went camping without either so it was always in his pack. They sat around by the fire ignoring the storm, telling stories of dumb ideas and even dumber pranks. It was amazing just how insane they could be at times and still live to tell the tale.

They decided that when they found the guys they were to immediately be tagged for tracking in the event anything like this happened again. Steve and Chris thought maybe one of those little chips they put in animals might work better than tagging since Jensen really wasn't into the piercing thing, and while Jared would probably do it just to prove he would, no one would be able to stand the whining, well no one but Jen. Mike wanted an on board camera for blackmail purposes and Chad decided they needed to fly only in a plane that had the OnStar button, cause damn if that hadn't saved his ass more times than he could count.

Daylight was breaking across the horizon when they finally settled back in, feeling like they had helped their friends get through the night by being close to them in memory. Steve rolled in behind Chris wrapping his arm around his chest from behind, and snuggled into his warmth.

"They'll make it. They're tough." Steve whispered. He knew no matter how stoic and tough of an act Chris put on, he was worried sick. Steve loved the man even more for looking out for him, and trying not to show how worried he was.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Jensen and Jared*

 

They left as soon as there was enough light not to miss any treacherous terrain. The wind was thankfully at their backs. Had it been blowing the other way, Jensen wasn't sure they would have stood a chance. He had been able to talk Jared into letting him walk first this time, arguing that the storm was just going to get worse, and he wanted to walk while he still could. Jared wasn't pleased but knew this was one fight, he wasn't going to win, so he caved as quickly as he could without being too obvious. Jensen had a pet peeve about being patronized, or anyone thinking he can't do something, thus the extra bruises from the do it yourself stunts.

Jensen really needed to send their gym a fruit basket or an elliptical, oh better yet, one of those new treadmills that could talk to you. They would have been frozen dinners right now without all the extra training they had put in for the show. Jensen had almost swallowed his tongue when Jared had taken his shirt off during the filming of Heart. His friend had been putting in even more time at the gym than him, worried about any candy hanging around in unsightly places. It was the first time he had seen Jared without his shirt in months, and while he always got a great view of his arms during a workout, nothing could have prepared him for the whole arms, chest and fucking twelve pack, because, hell, that right there exceeded six by far.

Jensen did more cussing in the last three hours than he had in all of his last ten years, including Dean's vocabulary. He almost went down several times from huge gusts of wind, that felt like a knives cutting straight through their layers. It was like going out in a snowstorm with a bathing suit on. The only thing that had kept him upright was Jared grabbing him before he face planted and made a snow angel complete with facial features. How dignified would that have been?

Jared had hoped that Jensen would let up and at least call for a break, giving Jared a chance to bully him back on the sled. He realized that they knew way to much about each other, because Jensen wasn't going to give him the opportunity, hardheaded bastard, what had he been thinking? After almost three hours of non stop motion, several Jensen saves, and watching his friend's jaw clench tighter and tighter every minute, Jared couldn't help but think that Jensen would have to spend thousands on dental reconstruction for cracked and ground teeth.

Jared was finally fed up when Jensen's crutch caught, sending his friend to his knee before Jared could get his hand out to catch him. While they rested, Jensen pulled the map back out and they looked over the distance and placement of the cabins. They summarized they had about another two to three hours before hitting the tree line, which would help block some of the wind, but possibly make walking and pulling the sled more difficult. The cabins looked to be just inside the tree line but visible from outside it. Judging from the map, there were three of them and they were roughly ten miles apart .

Jared threatened to tie Jensen to the sled if he didn't get on and shut up, and after five minutes of arguing, Jared got his way. Jensen was again safely sequestered in between supplies, securely wrapped in blankets, and Jared was once again a very happy camper, yea well that might be stretching it. Jared had not missed the blue tinge to Jensen's lips, but refrained from saying anything, knowing it would provoke another five minutes of arguing. They set back out with the knowledge that their time was quickly running out, if they couldn't find one of the cabins not long after getting to the trees, they wouldn't make it. Exposure was already nipping at their heels and closing in fast.

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*Rescue Team*

 

Gideon had shown up around eleven in the morning with weather news. The latest reports were calling for the storm to be past them in forty eight hours instead of the original estimate of four or five days. Unfortunately, there would be several feet of new powder to deal with which meant they would be pulling out the snow shoes when they got underway again.

Mike, Tom and Chad were all playing a game of cards, talking softly. Steve had opted to stretch back out and get some more rest, knowing that the louder the wind go,t the less- he would sleep. Chris had backed into a corner with notebook and paper, scribbling away as if whatever didn't make it onto the page quickly would float away, never to be captured.

Gideon came calling as the sun was going down, letting them know that the strongest portion of the storm was rolling in now, and that it would continue through the next day into the night. He wanted to make sure they had everything they needed, as there would be no one out until the storm cleared. He left as soon as he was reassured that they were taken care of, promising to be back over just as soon as the storm passed by.

Steve walked over to where Chris was sitting and slid down next to his partner.

"You doing okay?"

"Just peachy. They are never allowed out of my sight again," Chris mumbled.

"Oh, so they're going to come to bed with us?" Steve grinned at Chris' horrified look.

"You know what the fuck I'm talking about man"

"Yea, I do. Whatcha been working on?" Steve asked running his hand along Chris' leg.

"Song, I'm not sure, I like it though. I don't like my head space right now." Chris sighed.

"We'll take a look at it when this is a drinking story," Steve promised.

"Hey Chad, when did Gideon say this shit is supposed to let up?" Mike asked.

"Tomorrow night sometime, he didn't specify how early. Why?" Chad came to stand beside Mike.

"Well shit!" Chad exclaimed.

"What is it?" Tom asked as he made his way over to the window as well.

"We're going to need a fucking snow plow just to get out the door at the rate this shit is falling," Mike stated grimly.

Steve and Chris joined them at the window. They all stood around mesmerized by the constant falling snow. The longer they stood watching the more depressed they all became. If the guys hadn't stayed where they were or made it to safety, they wouldn't be on a rescue mission in a couple days, they would be on a recovery mission, and none of them thought they could live with that.

Through the next several hours, until depression and boredom pulled them into a fitful sleep, each man made a circuit of the cabin stopping by the window to stand and glare at the landscape. The wind had ceased for the moment, and the flakes floated silently down to add to the collection already on the ground, beautiful but deadly.

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*Jensen and Jared*

 

They made the tree line in two and a half hours. The wind had picked up slamming into their backs with gale force, and nearly knocking Jared over several times. As soon as they entered the buffering effect of the trees, Jared stopped to catch his breath.

"I'm going to walk for a little while, you've got to have a break," Jensen said as he climbed clumsily off the sled. He grabbed his crutch before shifting the supplies back around to distribute the weight. "Sit down for a minute man, I can't pick your big ass up if you drop."

"S'not fair," Jared panted.

"What's not fair?" Jensen asked. 

"Taking advantage of the winded man. I can't fight back," Jared complained through gulps of air.

"Aw poor baby, does Jay need a blankie?" Jensen ribbed him

"When we find this cabin o'paradise, I'm going to show you a blankie, jerk," Jared bitched back, "Come on, I'm good let's go."

"Fine, but when you fall over, I'm going to gut you and stay warm in your carcass." Jensen snarked.

"I'm not that big, you ass, and who is going to play the part of Han in your fantasy?" Jared asked actually curious who Jensen would name.

"Hmmmm, let me think, Vin Disel might be nice, he's actually shorter than me, or maybe Keanu Reaves, he has the puppy dog eyes, not quite like yours but close, but he may be prettier than me so that wouldn't be good. Okay, that just leaves Christian Bale, no one can resist Batman, and his hero complex, not to mention all his gadgets." Jensen grinned as the furrow in Jared's forehead became more pronounce with each name, he rattled off.

"I can't believe those are your choices," Jared grumbled as he strapped the sled back on, and started moving again. He didn't see what in the hell Jen saw in those guys. None of them would be good enough to do any Jensen rescuing, thank you very much. Why in the hell it bothered him was not a question he had to contemplate too much. He was jealous! Something he had never been with Sandy.

"What's wrong with my choices, I think they're pretty damn good. Harrison Ford is just a little too old for me." Jensen grinned as he listened to Jared mumble under his breath.

All talking ceased as they started walking again. Jensen caught Jared giving him glares out the corner of his eye. He couldn't quite understand what was bothering his friend so much about the conversation, but it tickled him to know he could get under Jared's skin with it. Jensen grinned, thinking this could be an all new fun way of sending Jared off the deep end. It was always fun to watch his friend get wound up and go ballistic. There were so many times that Jared had come over on a tear about this or that, and by the end of the rant Jensen was rolling in the floor, not at all affected by the threats of death and dismemberment if he didn't shut up and take it seriously.

The snow was coming down so hard they could barely see one another, and they were walking so close that they would brush against each other every few steps. They walked with their heads down. The snow hitting them in the face had not only been blinding them, but it was hell on the uncovered extremity. They found one of the cabins almost two hours later when Jensen's crutch caught on the edge of the raised porch step, sending him crashing onto the ground.

"Son of a bitch!" Jared exclaimed, "Are you okay?" He asked as he reached down to help his friend up.

"Fuck! That hurt," Jensen complained. "At least we found the damn cabin."

"Come on let's get you inside and see how bad you beat yourself up this time." Jared said as he helped his friend to his feet, noting the blood on the snow. He'd make damn sure he found out where that came from just as soon as he got Jensen in and a fire going.

Jensen refused to go into the cabin and rest until they had unloaded the sled, so Jared had made him sit by the door as he handed the items up, and Jensen pushed them in the door. They repeated the process with the firewood with Jared handing it in and Jensen stacking it along the walls. When they brought in enough firewood to last them at least three days, Jensen finally collapsed on the floor, back to the wall. Jared was pretty sure that was the only thing holding him up. The wood had been covered with a tarp so it had kept the moisture out fairly well. It took him a few attempts, but he finally had a fire roaring. Jared turned around, taking in his friend's slumped body, Jensen had fallen asleep where he sat.

Jared pulled the blankets from the pile at the door and set them by the fire to dry. He moved around the small cabin investigating the supplies that were kept there. He saw two cots with blankets piled high on each, as well as dry and canned goods on shelves above a sink area. Jared decided that neither man was going to fit on the cots and they would be better off making a pallet on the floor. When he finished making a new sleeping area, he pulled fresh clothes out of Jensen's duffle. They had kept one clean pair in the bag instead of wearing them because Jensen had wanted to feel human when they finally made it to safety.

Jared took a large pot that he found in the kitchen area, and he was using that term in the loosest possible context, and went outside to fill it with snow. He set it over the fire to warm it as he pulled off the fifty layers he was wearing. He ripped up a shirt to use as cloths, and went about cleaning himself up as much as possible before putting on a fresh set of clothes. When the water was somewhere between hot and take your skin off, he pulled the rest of the water off the fire. The cabin was warmer now, which was what he had been waiting on before he woke his friend up.

"Hey Jensen, wake up man let's get you cleaned up some. I want to check out that ankle while I'm at it too." Jared said as he shook his friend's shoulder.

"I don't want to go to work today," Jensen complained, causing Jared to roll his eyes and shake harder.

"It's a snow day, Jensen. Wake up we need to get you tended to." Jared saw when recognition flooded the other man's eyes.

"How long have I been asleep?" Jensen asked rubbing a hand across his face.

"Oh, about thirty minutes. Come on let's get you cleaned up and into clean clothes, then I want to take a look at that ankle and your head," Jared said as he helped Jensen to stand.

"I'm fine, just tired, but I do want to look at your wrist. You put to much strain on it during that hike. Don't think I didn't see you using it," Jensen replied, leaning on his friend until Jared lowered him to sit on one of the cots.

"You can look at my wrist, as soon as I take a look at you. I've already cleaned up so it's your turn, and then we can tally injuries, and get some rest." Jared leaned down to take off Jensen's other boot and help him out of the layers of socks.

"I don't think I'm going to fit on this thing," Jensen said looking at the size of the cot he was sitting on. "You're damn sure not going to fit on it."

"It's already taken care of. I made us a bed by the fireplace. Now get out of those shirts will you before the water gets cold."

"There's a shower?" Jensen asked looking around again trying to figure out how he had missed that in his first glance around the place.

"No, I warmed up some water over the fire, so strip," Jared waggled his eyebrows.

Jensen decided to hide the blush climbing his cheeks by pulling off his layers of shirts. He started stripping out of his layers of jeans and thermals before he realized that Jared was still standing there watching him.

"I do think I can manage this part myself, but if you could bring the pot closer it would help," Jensen said quietly, startling Jared out of his trance.

"Oh, yea, okay. I'll go get it. Hold on a minute." Jared quickly crossed the room, mentally cursing himself the whole way, he couldn't believe he had gotten caught staring. Jared hoped Jensen would put it down to exhaustion. He didn't think he could face trying to explain to his best friend that in the past two days he had noticed just how attractive Jensen was, not to mention that he was more than a little turned on by that fact.

Jensen couldn't quite place the look that had been on Jared's face just then, but it gave him a warm feeling to go along with the flip his stomach had done. He refused to get his hopes up. They had worked together for almost two years, and he knew Jared loved and was faithful to Sandy. There wasn't a chance in hell that what he wanted, he would ever get, so he just might as well suck it up and deal with it.

"Here's the water, it should be cool enough to stick your hand in now, and here are some cloths to help clean up. Your clothes are right there, I'm going to go put the food we brought with us over with the rest and see about getting us something to eat. Let me know if you need anything okay?" Jared turned and headed towards the door to make good on his statement. He grabbed the first aid kit and tossed it on the other cot as he walked past. He couldn't help glancing back, and when he did he took in the smooth plane of Jensen's back, the dip of each vertebrae, and the graceful line of his neck. A shiver ran the length of his body before he dragged his eyes away.

When he finished putting things up, he grabbed a couple of cans of beef stew, and poured them into another pot placing it over the fire. He made his way back over to his friend, just as he was pulling the long sleeve shirt over his head. Jared caught a quick peak of tight nipples before it was obscured by cotton. Damn, what a waste. He plopped down on the floor, taking Jensen's foot in his hand and placing it on his bent knee, Jared refused to look up, afraid his face would give him away, as he unwrapped Jensen's foot. It had swelled considerably which, in truth was what he had expected.

Jensen jumped when Jared stood up suddenly. "Where are you going?" He asked when he saw Jared headed for the door, grabbing his coat on the way.

"To get some snow, Jen your ankle is just about as swollen as it was right after the plane crash, and don't even try to lie and tell me that it doesn't hurt, it's written all over your face," Jared answered as he picked up the nylon bag and headed out the door.

When Jared came back in he helped Jensen move over to the blankets, getting him settled. He elevated his friend's foot and placed the snow bag around the swollen ankle. Jensen watched as Jared moved back to the cots retrieving the first aid kit.

"Here give me that so I can take a look at your wrist." Jensen said holding out his hand for the kit.

"How about no, " Jared responded, holding the kit away from his friends reaching hand.

"You said I could fix your wrist after you took care of me. Now give me the damn kit and let me look at it."

"No, I said when I finished taking care of yours, you can look at mine, and I know you hurt something when you fell. I saw the blood on the snow, Jensen. So what did you hit?" Jared stated calmly even though he was far from calm.

"I hit my head again, no big deal. I think I just reopened the cut from the plane. My head hurts that's all, I swear Jared. If it were bad, okay, worse than when I woke up in the plane I'd let you know." Jensen said earnestly.

"Alright, but let me get it cleaned up. We can't afford for you to get an infection. We have no idea how long we're going to be here," Jared said as he leaned over to look at the gash It wasn't bleeding anymore but Jared dabbed around the edges before moving to the center, cleaning out debris and dirt. When he finished, he poured alcohol on a cotton ball, running it over the injury and then slathering antibiotic cream over it.

"Thanks," Jensen said quietly as he watched Jared from under his lashes.

"For what?" Jared asked glancing down.

"You know, keeping me alive, and in one piece," Jensen answered. "How about let me look at that wrist now, and return the favor."

"Yea, it's not so happy with me right now," Jared confessed.

Jensen smiled tugging Jared forward by the elbow and unwrapping his wrist. "I can see why. Go get another bag of some kind, and some more snow, your wrist looks like a balloon."

Jared pulled his coat back on and rummaged around until he found a plastic bag. He disappeared out the door, only to return a minute later with a bag of snow. Jensen grabbed one of rags and wrapped it around the bag while Jared took off his coat and boots. Jared grabbed a couple of bowls and poured the beef stew into them before he sat down and let Jensen put the bag on his wrist. They sat in front of the fire eating and letting the warmth seep into their bones. When Jared got up to put the dishes in the sink, he pulled the aspirin out of the first aid kit, knowing they both could use some.

"Uh Jared, could you do me a favor?" Jensen asked sheepishly.

"Yea. What do you need? Jared responded.

"Well I kinda need to use the facilities, such as they are." They had seen the curtained off area and discovered a weird sort of indoor/outdoor latrine.

"Yea, you want me to help you over or use your crutch?" Jared asked.

"I'll use the crutch, but would you grab me my glasses and contact case? These contacts are trashed after the last two days." Jensen reached out taking the crutch as Jared helped him gain his feet.

"No problem, I'll get it while you visit our five star bathroom." Jared grinned as Jensen scowled at him.

By the time Jensen had come out and rinsed his hands off, Jared was waiting to help him sit down and replace the snow pack. Jared sat down beside him handing his friend the aspirin and his case for his contacts. When Jensen had swallowed the pills and removed his contacts, Jared handed him the case with his glasses. Jensen put them on, sighing as he leaned back. His eyes really thanked him for that. When he opened them again he caught Jared starring at him again.

Jared had seen Jensen wear his glasses a thousand times, and it had never affected him in any way but damn if they weren't doing naughty things to him now. He blinked a couple times realizing that he had been caught staring again.

"Sorry, spaced out," Jared grinned and shrugged.

"Yea, it's been a long day. I take that back it's been a long couple of days," Jensen said as he looked away. Jared's grin always made him feel warm and happy, unfortunately it was making other places feel very happy too.

"Let's get some rest. we're both worn out," Jared suggested as he moved to throw a couple more logs on the fire.

"I don't even think that noise outside can keep me awake" Jensen agreed as he slid down, taking his glasses off and laying them beside his crutch.

Jared crawled in beside him covering them both up as he laid down. "I hope whoever was looking for us is somewhere safe," he said as he started to drift off.

Jensen smiled into the night. Only Jared would worry about someone else when he was the one in trouble.


	8. Chapter 8

Day 4

*Jensen and Jared*

 

Jensen woke up several times during the night. The first time was to move the melted snow bags that were eaking, the rest were a combination of nightmares, and the storm raging outside. The wind had died down during the afternoon but had returned with a vengeance right after the sun set. Each time he had surfaced, Jared had been wrapped around him, it was a feeling Jensen was already addicted to, damn withdrawal was going to be a bitch. He should know better than to even think Jared did it on purpose, much less hope for it. Jared was only seeking warmth. It was a normal response in sleep, but God, Jensen wished it were more. He finally gave in to exhaustion, relishing the feel of Jared's body against his.

Jared got up right before the sun came up, throwing several more logs on the fire. Jensen was floating in between sleep and waking. Jensen felt Jared settle back under the covers right before a strong arm snaked around his waist, and pulled him snug against Jared's body. Jared buried his nose in the back of Jensen's neck, breathing deep, and letting out a contented sigh as he relaxed back into sleep.

Huh, Jensen's brain was struggling to catch up, whereas his body was already yelling, hell yea. He'd still been mostly asleep when Jared pulled their bodies together, but when his friend snuggled in, breathing softly against the back of his neck, his eyes popped open. Jensen was laying perfectly still afraid of moving, and breaking the moment ..... well..... whatever this was until he decided a scientific experiment was in order.

Jensen shifted away a few inches, only to be dragged back in, every time he moved Jared pulled him back. After the fifth wiggle, Jensen was grinning ear to ear, it was all could do not to let out the giggles threatening to explode. On the seventh try, Jared pulled him back and proceeded to wrap his leg around Jensen's, before muttering, no, in his sleep.

Jensen was sure Jared thought it was either Sandy or one of the dogs that he was cuddling, of course Jensen didn't even want to know why Jared would be snuggling with his dogs. Jared had done a great job of immobilizing him, so unless Jensen wanted to end this by waking up his friend, he just had to lay here and suffer through, yea your really suffering, his mind supplied.

"Well I am, damn, hard on," Jensen mumbled to himself.

Jared's arm around his waist tightened a fraction, and then relaxed, while Jared's hand slid across Jensen's chest, and settled low on his abdomen. Jensen swallowed at the feel of Jared's large hand splayed across his stomach, the heat burning through his shirt and soaking into his body. Jensen was about to turn around and wake Jared up when his friends lips brushed the back of his neck and he heard his name breathed on an exhale.

Jensen was glad, he wasn't able to see his face right then, he was fairly sure it wasn't attractive, his mouth hanging open, eyes wide as saucers, and a dumbfounded expression gracing his face, but really what the fuck? Since when did Jared say his name in his sleep? Well sure he'd probably dreamed about Jensen before, they're together 24/7 and Jensen's had his fair share of Jared dreams, and not all of them were pornographic, thank you very much. Only the way Jared had said his name all breathy, and soft, again, what the fuck? When had he traded in his balls for boobs? Jensen rolled his eyes at the girlie inner monologue.It didn't however stop him from replaying that sound wrapped around his name making a shiver run up his spine.

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Jared woke up to the feel of a warm body pressed against him. There were hard, lean muscles under his hand, something both foreign and exciting. Jared knew his friend was awake, he spent enough time with Jensen to know his breathing patterns as well as when the other was trying to be quiet. Jared felt Jensen shiver, so he pulled him tighter against his body, not ready to let this new feeling go just yet.

Jared could practically hear the gears in Jensen's head whirring. His friend was a thinker, whereas Jared was a doer. While he did think things through, he tended to do it quickly, and without the angst. Sometimes it worked out, other times not so much, but once he made a decision, he approached the task with unbridled determination and exuberance.

He knew Jensen would mull things over for days, examining things from every angle, running through every possible scenario in his head. Jared sometimes got the mental image of the cartoon with the two dogs, the older dog standing there complacently while the younger dog bounced around and yipped like it was on crack, not that, that particular picture placed him in a very favorable light, but still.

Jared had come to a decision and, as life altering as it was, he had no second thoughts. Matter of fact, he was looking forward to where this new direction was leading. He had no illusions that his choice wouldn't be difficult, and while he knew his family would support him, the biggest wild card was Jensen. Jared knew Jensen's preferences ran to guys within a week of filming, His friend had never told him, and he had never questioned Jensen, Jared hadn't said anything because at the time they hadn't really known each other, by the time they did it wasn't really worth mentioning in the first place.

Jensen didn't run around waving the gay flag, nor did he try to hide it. Jensen was just a private person, and while he was able to keep his personal life pretty much out of the rags, what they did print was what Jensen allowed them to see or the network set up. People who knew his friend, and Jared meant really knew him, could tell you what Jensen was feeling by reading the other man's eyes. Jensen could shut his body language and facial expressions down so fast it would have made a poker player proud, but Jared was sure his friend had no idea all you needed to do was watch his eyes, because if he did Jared was positive Jensen would wear his sunglasses permanently.

Jared had caught Jensen watching him, and while at the time he hadn't thought anything of it, now that's all he was doing. Let it not be said that Jared didn't have self-confidence in spades. All the times that Jensen had bitched about him doing certain stunts, calling for breaks when he knew Jared was having problems with a scene, especially the overly emotional ones. Jensen bringing him his favorite candy or ordering pizza the way he liked it even though Jensen didn't like half the shit that was on it, and taking the dogs for a walk when Jared just needed to deal with whatever by himself. While Jared did the same things for Jensen, he recognized an undercurrent he hadn't paid any attention to.

Unfortunately Jared also knew that, for whatever reason, Jensen didn't believe he deserved someone that cared about him the same way, Jared hadn't figured out why yet, even going so far as to ask Steve, because no way in hell was he asking Chris, nope he liked his balls where they were, thank you very much. Either Steve didn't know, not likely, or he refused to say, and Jared was betting on that one. It was still about to drive Jared crazy, but he hadn't found a devious enough way to discover the truth without Jensen finding out.

Jared was definitely going to be a hard sell, especially since Jared hadn't told Jensen about the break up with Sandy. He knew Jensen would consider this another thing that Jared needed him for, and what scared Jared the most was not the possibility that he would fail, not that didn't scare the shit out of him mind you, it was actually the chance that Jensen thought so little of himself that he would give Jared what Jensen thought he needed at the expense of hurting himself. Jared had the deep abiding fear that no matter what or how he handled it, Jensen would conclude that Jared was confused, and hurt by his breakup, or that it was a rebound fuck. All those things were so far from the truth he just didn't know how he was going to get his friend to see it. He finally decided just to go with his gut, and of course, his heart.

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Jensen was also very familiar with Jared's patterns and knew his friend had finally woke up. He kept waiting for the Jared to pull away and start freaking, since well, that was definitely not a gun pressed against his ass, oh shit, Jensen's mind whimpered. What he got was a kiss to the back of his neck before Jared stood up and made his way to the facilities. Jensen was so shocked, he didn't move not even when he heard Jared come back into the sleeping area and pull his jeans on.

Jensen couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. He had gone to sleep knowing where he stood in the grand scheme of things, and now he felt like he had been dropped into the Twilight Zone. He really must have hit his head harder than he thought, or maybe it was the combination of hits to the head. There had to be a logical explanation, or even a demonic one. Had there been any flickering lights? Jensen was pulled out of his mini freak out by a Jared's next question.

"What's your preference for breakfast? We have cereal, without the milk of course, granola bars, trailmix, or some packaged meals of dubious origin with even more dubious content?" Jared asked, as he poked at afore mentioned packaged meal.

*******************************************************************

*Rescue Team*

 

Tom woke up early, throwing a few more logs on the fire. Mike was still asleep nothing showing from under the covers but his nose. Chad was awake, staring at the cobwebs on the ceiling, but he had the look of a man not happy to be awake that early. Steve was still asleep, something Tom attributed to Chris carding his free hand through Steve's hair, while he scribbled furiously in the notebook from last night with his free one.

Tom grabbed a pot and headed for the door, so they could have some water, with whatever they decided to eat for breakfast. When he came back in, Chad was sitting on the edge of the cot, his head in his hands, his hair stuck up in wild spikes from tossing, and turning all night. He looked like he had lost his best friend. Tom shook his head, giving himself a mental slap, that's because he has, dumb ass, his brain supplied so graciously.

Chad took the pot form Tom setting it over the fire while Tom pulled off his outerwear and headed for the food.

"It still coming down out there?" Chad asked.

"Yea, I can't even see the other cabin," Tom replied.

"Great, means loads of fun tomorrow, provided this shit moves out tonight." Chad's face showed his dislike for the fun he was envisioning.

"I hate snow shoes, I feel like I'm walking on tennis rackets," Tom moaned.

Chad snorted. "Yes they are a lovely accessory to all the latest fall fashions," he said as he mimicked a commercial narrator.

"What's a lovely accessory?" Mike asked as he struggled to sit up from under a mound of blankets.

"Snow shoes," Tom and Chad answered as one.

Mike groaned and fell backwards covering his head as he went. They heard a mumbled, "I hate snow shoes," emanate from the lump on the cot.

Tom and Chad grinned at each other as Chad pulled the pot off the stove, and grabbed a couple of cups. Tom opened the trail mix, throwing a few granola bars at Mike's head as it reemerged form the blankets.

"Hey, not the head. You know women around the world watch the show just to see my beautiful head." Mike whined.

"Oh please, they watch the show to see Tommy's ass." Steve said as he rolled over to look at the other man.

"I don't know Steve, maybe they like that new kid. What's his name, Ashmore? He has a certain appeal. Oh and I forgot he's a twin so there's two of them." Chris waggled his eyebrows and grinned as Mike's lip poked further and further out.

"You guys suck!" Mike pouted.

"Not lately, y'all are cramping out style just a little," Steve couldn't resist the implication.

Chad just rolled his eyes, Tom was too busy laughing at Mike to even worry about the mental picture that Chad was obviously trying to shake out of his head. Mike finally pulled his lip in with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Hey man, I'm not stopping you. We'd at least have something to watch besides snow and cobwebs," Mike leered.

"Speak for yourself. I'm still trying recover from walking in on them at Tom's birthday party," Chad complained.

"Well what were you coming back there for anyway?" Chris asked, knowing full well Chad had been dragging some little red head behind him.

"Same thing as you, asshole but at least I lock doors." Chad said with an affronted look.

"What's the fun in that? Don't you know the possibility of getting caught gets the blood pumping? So to speak," Steve said with a lascivious grin.

"Oh God, shut up," Chad groaned covering his ears.

"Leave poor Chad alone. We know he's way to delicate for such talk," Tom said laughing when Chad gave him the middle finger.

They ate their choice of breakfasts and settled down for more long hours of waiting and trying to keep their sanity. By the time lunch rolled around they were all about to go stir crazy. Chris had finally put down his notebook, grumbling because he could hear the melody in his head but didn't have his guitar to work the words in. Steve was pacing in front of the window while Mike and Tom talked over the episode they had been filming. Chad had brought an iPod with him, and he was squeezing the last little bit of juice out of it, he could.

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Gideon braved the walk between the two cabins when the snow let up enough to see from one to the other. He needed to check that they didn't need anything as well as fill them in on the latest news. He stomped in shaking snow off his boots, wondering why in the hell he had chosen this particular profession. Oh, that's right, he was good at it and his guidance counselor sucked. He knew once he cleared the door, he was going to be deluged with questions, and they didn't disappoint. He did manage to get out of his outerwear before it started, though.

"Have you heard anything?" Chad asked.

"Nice to see you too," Gideon replied, patting Chad on the shoulder when Chad blushed and stepped back so he could get two steps into the room.

Gideon dropped down onto the floor by the fireplace and the others following suit. "As far as the guys, no, we've had no news. We did get confirmation that the storm should clear out by the end of tonight. We should be able to get started mid morning."

"But?" Chris asked, feeling dread pool in his stomach.

Gideon looked over at Chris, a quick look of respect shooting through before he inclined his head, and looked at them all. "The helicopter won't be back up until the next day."

"What the fuck?" Steve growled, leaning forward in his frustration.

"Let the man talk," Chris said as he placed a hand on Steve's arm pulling him back to settle in beside him.

"They called in a few minutes ago. They're waiting on a part for the rotor to be flown in. They can't get it there until tomorrow late afternoon, and then they have to put it on."

"What about another helicopter?" Mike asked.

"Tied up on other search and rescue. A lot of people couldn't make it back in with the storm coming in faster than forecast," Gideon explained.

"The other team?" Chad asked the next question.

"Heading out the same time we are, maybe a little later since the storm's going to clear us first, but maybe not." Gideon waited for the question everyone always asked.

Chris just looked at him for couple of minutes, finally shaking his head. "We're not going to ask it."

Tom had been watching their interaction, realization slowly dawning. "We don't need to know the chances. If anyone can beat the percentages it's them."

Gideon nodded his head smiling a little as he moved to stand up. "Anything else you need to know before I get lost?

Chad shook his head seemingly answering for them all.

"Alright unless you need something I'll see you in the morning. I want to do a meet about nine go over the safety protocol with new powder," Gideon told them as he pulled his parka and gloves on.

Chris pulled his coat on and walked out with Gideon.

He waited for the door to shut, " You think we're in denial don't you?"

"Nope, I think you have faith in your friends. Ain't nothing wrong with that." Gideon said. "I don't usually let myself get involved in the game of hoping things will go my way. Can't do the job if I did."

"I get that, I don't know how you do it anyway," Chris replied.

"Hmmm, I ask myself the same question every time we head out. I guess cause I'm good at it." Gideon smiled.

"Yea, you are, but I think it's more than that. I think you might have just a little bit of a hero complex going on there too."

"Shhhh, don't tell anybody. I'll never hear the end of it." Gideon laughed. He turned to head down the steps.

Chris arched his eyebrow when Gideon turned back around, and waited for the team leader to speak.

"I'm looking forward to meeting your friends, they have to be something else."

"Yea, they are," Chris said as Gideon turned around, and made his way back to the other cabin.

Chris stood watching for a few minutes before heading back in.

************************************************************************************************

*Jensen and Jared*

 

Jensen sat on one of the cots eating a granola bar while Jared sat on the other eating his cereal. Jensen had watched his friend while tryng to be as inconspicuous as possible. He was really starting to think he was losing his mind. Jared had acted the same as he always did, joking around, just doing Jared things. There was nothing to be worried about. It had all been a hallucination. It was really the only explanation, and if Jensen kept telling himself that he might believe it.

"So what're we going to do all day?" Jared asked, hiding a grin behind his cup.

"Nothing much to do," Jensen quirked a brow at his friend trying to determine were this was headed.

"Come on, you know I can't sit here all day and do nothing," Jared whined.

"Well I've got cards in my duffle, other than that unless you want to play tic tac toe you're out of luck," Jensen said as he reached down to grab his crutch.

"Where do you think your going?" Jared asked.

"To throw the trash in the bag and get some more water. You mind?" Jensen looked at Jared like he was missing the obvious.

"Yes," Jared stated.

"Yes, what?" Jensen asked confused.

"Yes, I mind," Jared said as he stood up and took the trash and cup out of Jensen's hand and walked over to the fireplace where the pot was sitting.

Jensen couldn't decide if Jared's show of control pissed him off, or turned him on. His head was hollering , what the hell, but his body was screaming, hell yea. He kept watching as Jared filled up the cup and threw the trash away, trying to come up with what was different. Jared brought the cup back grabbing the first aid kit on the way. Jensen took the cup, giving the first aid kit a pointed look.

"I want to check that place on your head again, and I need to see if the swelling's gone down on that ankle," Jared said by way of explanation.

"My head's fine and I can wrap my own ankle, although I need to probably rewrap your wrist," Jensen replied, trying not to show the uneasiness that came with thoughts of Jared touching him.

Jared waited for Jensen to look at him before repeating himself. "Let's try this again, I'm going to check your head, and then your ankle. When I'm finished you can look at my wrist, but it barely twinges anymore."

Jensen held Jared's eyes, hoping he would give in. Jensen had forgotten just how stubborn Jared could be sometimes. He finally dropped his eyes, setting the cup on the floor and heaving a put upon sigh, "Fine, but don't take all day, I have things to do and places to be."

Jared just grinned at him as he dragged the cot closer to Jensen until their knees were bumping together. "Yea, I just bet you do, now lean down here so I can look at that gash."

Jensen leaned his head down and angled it to the side to make it easier for Jared to reach, hoping the more he cooperated, the quicker it would be over with. However he had underestimated Jared's desire to be thorough. Jensen held back a moan as Jared ran his fingers through his hair, feeling along the raised surface of the bump, kneading around the sore tissue until Jensen relaxed.

Jared ran his fingers through Jensen's hair a few more times before he dabbed the gash with more alcohol, and antibiotic cream as well. He took the opportunity of Jensen not realizing he was done to slide his hands through the silky, soft strands a couple more times before pulling away. Jensen slid back on the cot bringing his foot up for inspection, Jared figured that Jensen had finally decided fighting wasn't going to get him anywhere. He pulled Jensen's foot into his lap, the angle easier in which to unwind the bandage and get a better look at the swelling.

Jensen sat as still as he could while Jared unwound his ankle. It was all he could do not to snatch his foot back when Jared started running long fingers across the top of his foot. Jensen gritted his teeth as Jared ran the pads of his fingers around his ankle bone and down under the arch of his foot. He watched as big hands shifted his foot from side to side pushing gently at the swollen areas and double-checking for breaks. Jared finally grabbed the bandage and rewrapped the ankle before settling it gentle back on the cot.

"It's still a little swollen, so I think you need to ice it a few more times today, and then it should be all good. The gash on your head probably needed stitches, but since I don't have Sam's sewing skills, and no Jack Daniels we're going to have to keep it cleaned and medicated," Jared said as he watched Jensen fidget around. Jared had noticed how Jensen seemed frozen to the spot while he was taking care of the head and ankle injury, but kept the grin off his face, not wanting his friend to question him just yet.

"Yea, now that you've played Florence Nightengale let me look at your wrist. You're the one that keeps using what's hurt instead of letting it heal," Jensen griped, taking Jared's arm and pulling it towards him to get to the bandage.

Jensen used the same care as he had the first time, as he checked over the wrist and fragile bones just above. He made Jared move all his fingers, checking for range of motion and watching his face closely to see when it was painful. When he finished his examination, he wrapped it, and sent Jared out to get more snow. When Jared came back in with both packs filled, Jensen moved back to the floor in front of the fireplace. Jared also noticed that Jensen had thrown some more logs on the fire before he had gotten comfortable.

"Here put that on your ankle. Once it melts, we'll wait until after lunch to do the next pack, then one after supper. Hopefully you want have to have any more if you'll keep your weight off it," Jared said as he handed Jensen the pack.

"Alrigh,t but your wrist is going to take more time, if you don't stop using it, I'm going to make a sling, and you're not going to take your arm out of it, if I have to duct tape it to keep it there," Jensen growled, watching Jared move around, getting comfortable, and setting the pack on his wrist.

"Nag, nag, nag, I swear it's like having a wife," Jared ribbed back.

They sat in companionable silence, watching the fire shift and dance. Jensen kept sliding down until he finally gave up and just snuggled back under the covers, the last few days having taken their toll. Jared was content to sit for a while longer. He watched as Jensen's eyes closed after giving up the battle to sleep. Jensen's face had regained some of its color, but he was still too pale for Jared's liking. He reached over, running his fingers back through Jensen's hair, wondering what in the hell he was going to do if he couldn't get this thing to work out.

It didn't take long for Jared to curl up around Jensen, exhaustion, and warmth from the fire as well as Jensen's body lulling him to sleep.

*******************************************************************************************

*Rescue Team*

 

The storm had started tapering off not long after the sun went down. Tom came back in from grabbing more logs reporting that only a light dusting was falling. They were all on edge, and ready to get underway. Mike was sitting on the cot, Chad across from him. They were debating the pros and cons of the newest gaming units. Steve and Chris were laid out on the floor talking quietly.

" I wonder how their families are doing?" Tom asked, to no one in particular.

"Jensen's mom is probably trying to get Alan to stop pacing," Steve said.

"Probably, and Mac is more than likely about to drive Josh insane. You know she can't sit still more than ten minutes," Chris contributed.

"Josh, is more than likely considering drugs at this point," Steve agreed. "I've been on the receiving end of a bored Mackenzie. She can be dangerous."

"Jeff is probably at the hospital scoping out their trauma unit, making sure it's adequate," Chad sighed. "God knows he's not going to leave anything to chance."

"How do you think his parents are holding up?" Mike asked.

"They're strong folks, I'm more worried about Megan. " Chad grimaced. "She and Jared are close, it has to be tough just sitting there waiting. At least we can attempt to do something not just wait around for word."

"What about Sandy, you think she's with Jared's parents?" Tom had been wondering how his wife would take it if he had been missing.

"I doubt it," Chad scowled.

"Why the hell not? Steve asked. "I thought she got along with his family."

"Oh, it's got nothing to do with that, as far as I know she did. Apparently they broke up over a week ago." Chad clarified.

"Do what? How the hell did they keep that out of the papers?" Mike's confusion was clear on his face.

"Fuck if I know man, I didn't even know, " Chad bitched. "So when I get my hands on gumby we're going to be have a serious conversation about keeping his friends in the dark."

"So how did you find out if he didn't tell you?" Chris waded back into the conversation.

"I got a call from this girl I know. She had overheard Sandy talking to one of her friends about how they weren't together anymore. This chick wanted to know if it was true. Guess she smelt fresh meat. I told her it wasn't any of her business one way or the other." Chad grinned. "I don't think she took it too well. She used some of my more colorful names before she hung up."

"Do you think Jensen knows?" Tom wondered out loud.

"I talked to him right before he left LA, and he didn't say anything about it." Chris answered, giving Steve a knowing look.

"What?" Chad asked, catching the look out the corner of his eye.

"What, what?" Mike asked, completely confused again.

Chad just sat there looking at Steve and Chris waiting for them to answer the question, knowing they knew exactly what Tom was talking about. 

"Nothing, man really. If Jensen had known, he would have said something is all," Steve said.

Chad knew there was more to it than what he was getting, but decided to let it ride for the time being. He was fairly confident pushing those two would only result in a closing of ranks and quite possibly an ass whooping. Frankly, Chad didn't want anything getting in the way of him smacking Jared for scaring the shit out of him, so why take chances of being too beaten up to do it. He'd figure it out sooner or later. It was all a matter of keeping your eyes and ears open.

They called it a night not long after, bedding down in their respective places. The next day was going to come soon enough, and while they looked forward to being able to do something to find their friends, there was an underlying tension of what they would actually find.

******************************************************************************************************

*Jensen and Jared*

 

Jared woke up with Jensen curled up behind him, an arm slung across his waist, breath warm against his neck. Jared lay there contemplating the way he was feeling. He dated plenty over the years, been in relationships, some short, some not so short, but none of them had ever made him feel the way he did with Jensen . Jensen had a way of making him feel safe, and cared for. Jared was used to being the one to make people feel safe, he wasn't used to this feeling, but he knew he liked it.

Jensen started stirring behind him, and Jared wasn't ready to relinquish this new discovery. He reached up, threading his fingers through Jensen's, holding his breath when his friend mumbled in his sleep. He had to be careful, and not push too much, but he knew he was going to have to push some. Jared had watched Jensen shut people out on more than one occasion when they got too close, or pushed to hard. Most of the time, they never even knew it was happening. Jensen could make it seem like he was letting you in on his deepest darkest secret, but in reality you were just barely scratching the surface.

Jared relaxed when Jensen shifted closer, enjoying the warmth coming off of Jensen's body pressed close to his. No, he was definitely not going to lose this. He didn't give a damn what it took. He drifted back to sleep, contemplating how to accomplish his goal. When he woke up several hours later, the cabin was dark again except for the light coming from the fireplace, and Jensen wasn't beside him. When Jared looked around, and didn't see him, he jumped up, panic setting in. Jared was sure his heart had stopped, only resuming a stuttering rhythm when the door opened and Jensen hobbled in dragging a blanket of firewood.

Jensen looked like a kid that was caught with his dad's porn stash. If Jared hadn't been so scared it might have been funny. Unfortunately for Jensen, Jared didn't stay scared long, scared had morphed to pissed. Jeff had always told him he was happy that Jared was such an easy going person, because it would have been mighty embarrassing to get his ass stomped by his younger brother.

Jared never really got angry that often, but when he did it was a sight to behold, or so his brother had said. Not having witnessed it himself, Jared wasn't sure just what that meant. However, going by the flush running up Jensen's neck and into his checks, added to the way he shifted from foot to crutch and refused to meet Jared's eyes, he was getting a pretty good picture.

Well good, damn it, Jensen had no business being out in the cold, without his heavy coat none the less, on crutches, loading firewood and then pulling said firewood while keeping his balance. If Jared hadn't been so angry he may have been impressed with that feat, but again, unfortunately for Jensen, Jared was that pissed.

Jensen had seen his friend upset, frustrated, and angry, but he had never seen him furious before. He wasn't sure if he should try to explain or just keep his mouth, shut and let Jared start. He had a feeling it really wouldn't matter. He was fucked either way. Jensen was even more sure of that conclusion when Jared stalked up to him, reached around him to slam the door, before focusing his attention back on the object of his displeasure namely him. Jensen gulped audibly, opening his mouth to start explaining.

"Don't even try it. There is absolutely nothing you can say to explain why you went out into freezing temperatures, with no heavy coat, no gloves, on a crutch. I won't even go into what would have happened if you had lost your balance and fell while loading the wood, or trying to pull it in here. What the fuck do you think would have happened if you had knocked yourself out and I hadn't woken up in time?" Jared was livid, the more he thought about what could have happened the more scared he got, which only fueled his anger.

Jensen knew he risked Jared waking up while he was gone, even debated if it was worth the fallout, but he didn't want Jared loading firewood because of the shape his wrist was in. He had noticed the firewood was getting low and was going to have to be stocked back up, so in the end he had decided to brave it, hoping he would be finished before Jared woke up. The last several days should have told him his luck was sucking, but Jensen could be optimistic when it suited him. He let Jared vent until he had to slow down to take a deep breath in order to keep going, then jumped in.

"I'm not helpless you know, I do have some sense. I wasn't going to be out there long. We needed more wood, and you were asleep, not to mention the fact that you have about as much business out there loading firewood with a bad wrist as I did, so I didn't see the difference." Jensen growled back.

Jared stood looking at him, face still set in angry lines. Jensen was completely unprepared for Jared to reach out and grab his head with both hands holding him in place as Jared's lips descended on his.


	9. Chapter 9

Day 5

*Rescue Team*

 

The rescue team woke to a day with no wind, and no snow. The silence was almost deafening after the last couple of days. Gideon had instructed everyone to unload their packs, take inventory, and anything they needed from the cabins. There would be a supply run hitting all the cabins, starting with these, after all search and rescues were finished from the storm.

When everyone had their packs put back together, and ate lunch, they all met in front of the cabins waiting for the go ahead. Gideon let them know what to expect with the new powder, made sure everyone was comfortable on the snowshoes, and set down their route for the day. The team leader had received the latest information from base early that morning, and it gave them a tighter search area, which made him very happy.

Once the helicopter was repaired, it would continue from the point it had left off just to be sure nothing was missed, but the land teams would start with the new information. Gideon was happy to see that they wouldn't have to do quite so much backtracking as he had originally thought, which meant hopefully they would find the plane soon.

If Steve thought the worst part of the wait would have been the two days it had taken the storm to clear, he was sadly mistaken. The four hours readying to leave felt like a fucking eternity. Steve was actually surprised that Chris hadn't gone ape shit waiting for everyone to get their snowshoes on, but he had been uncharacteristically patient.

"Hey, what's wrong with Chris?" Mike asked as he moved in next to Steve, all of them waiting for the all clear to move out.

"What do you mean?" Steve glanced at Mike, before looking back to track Chris' movements across the snow.

"He's calm, and quiet. I figured he'd be raising hell about leaving now," Mike explained. "I know I'm about to."

"We'll be leaving just as soon as Gideon radios in and lets them know we're moving out," Tom said as he walked by. "I just heard him tell Chad."

"Chad must have finally ran out of patience," Mike snorted. "Here I thought it was going to be the me or Chris that broke and asked when the fuck we were going."

"My thoughts exactly," Steve replied still watching his partner. "I'm not sure what's going on with Chris, but I aim to find out."

Steve made his way over to where Chris was messing with the strap on his snowshoe.

"What's up?" Steve asked, placing his hand on Chris' back.

"Nothing, just making sure they're tight 's all."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Steve waited for Chris to lean back up, and look at him, before continuing.

"We're finally getting back on track, and I would've thought you'd be bashing heads to get a move on."

"Yea," Chris agreed, but didn't add more.

"Yea, so why aren't you? I'm the calm, laid back one in this relationship," Steve grinned. Lifting Chris' chin, so he could look him in the eye.

"Just worried," Chris mumbled.

"And?" Steve prompted.

"The closer we get to finding them, the more I stress about it," Chris said quietly.

"It?" Steve questioned.

"Finding them alive," Chris finally confessed.

Steve put his hands on either side of Chris' head, so that he had his undivided attention.

"You said it yourself, they're tough. They made it, no question about it. They'll look out for each other, and when we get to them, then we'll look out or them." Steve said, not losing eye contact as he spoke.

"You know how Jenny loves to be mother hen'd," Steve grinned when Chris snorted.

"Thanks," Chris leaned forward brushing his lips across Steve's, pulling back, when all he wanted to do was stay

"No problem, somebody's got to keep ya straight," Steve said, turning at Gideon's piercing whistle.

"Um, Steve, 'fraid to tell you, but straight, has nothing to do with you and me," Chris whispered in his ear.

"Ass," Steve mumbled.

"Yours," Chris grinned, listening to Gideon give the order to move out.

*****************************************************************************************************

*Jensen and Jared*

 

The kiss was fast, hard and aggressive. When Jared pulled back, Jensen could still see the anger in his face, but there was something else he couldn't place.

"Jay?" Jensen questioned.

"Get your ass in there under the covers. Your turning into a smurf again," Jared bitched at the bluish tinge to Jensen's skin.

Jensen found himself moving without a conscious decision. He was still in a state of complete and total shock. He couldn't remember a time since leaving home he had ever responded to an order outside of a job before, and here he was meekly dropping down in front of the fireplace. He was still trying to come to terms with Jared expressing himself in a new and different way, which although not unwelcome, was completely unprepared for. Jensen was sure it was the stress of the situation. Jared always responded to stressful situations emotionally, and if the last few days couldn't be classified as stressful, nothing could.

Jared watched out the corner of his eye as he stacked the firewood. Jensen had sat down in front of the fire, and while not under the covers had complied enough to keep from getting bitched at. Jared could see fine tremors running through Jensen's frame as his body slowly warmed up, but the thing distracting Jared the most was how Jensen kept reaching up to touch his lips. His tongue would slip out and run along his lips, followed closely by a finger tracing the same path. Jensen had done this several times, staring off into space, not aware that he was being watched.

Jensen could still taste him every time he ran his tongue across his lips. He could feel the pressure of Jared's lips on him like a phantom touch still tingling through his body. He glanced over at Jared, who was stacking the firewood, his body language still rigid, and tense. Jensen wanted to make something of what had just happened, but he knew there was no way in hell Jared wanted the same things he did. Jared was straight for fucks sake, with a beautiful woman that loved him, and Jared worshiped the ground she walked on. Best just to write this off as what it was, nothing but letting off steam. Jared had been scared, and needed a way to release the pent up emotion.

Jared continued to watch the play of emotions cross Jensen's face. He could tell the exact moment that Jensen had come to the wrong conclusion. He should have known that it wouldn't be so easy. This was Jensen, he was talking about, after all. But when something was worth it, getting there that was important thing, no matter how difficult. Jared knew he shouldn't have kissed Jensen when he did, but he just couldn't stop himself. Waking up with Jensen missing had sent him into a meltdown, and then to have him walk, okay hobble, through the door like it was nothing, had sent his blood pressure skyrocketing. What prompted the kiss, however, was Jensen doing what Jensen always did, taking care of him, and a healthy dose of terror. Jared knew Jensen didn't realize that, but he would before all was said and done.

Jensen just decided to play it off. Time didn't really mean anything when he had no place to go, and no way to get there. There were no stars out leaving the night pitch black. When Jensen thought to check his watch it was three in the morning. They had slept through lunch, supper and most of the night, Jensen couldn't ever recall sleeping that much at one time, except when he was fifteen and gotten the super flu, well that's what he called it anyway. Jensen thought now would be a fine time for a distraction, and what better way to provide one than food.

He stood up carefully, gimping his way to the cabinets, waiting for Jared to start fussing. When he didn't, Jensen took a quick peak over his shoulder just in case Jared was going to pull a sneak attack. What he saw was his friend standing there with his arms crossed, watching him with an odd look on his face, and if that didn't make him self conscious when he was at his best, it sucked balls when he was tottering around on a homemade crutch trying not to bust his ass. Once there, he scanned the different canned goods, looking for something that would appeal. He finally settled on some cans of vegetable soup. He popped the tops, God, he loved whomever had come up with the pull tops, and poured the contents in the pan.

"Hey Jared," he called, discovering there was no way in hell, he could balance himself and the pan of soup all the way to the fireplace.

"Yea," Jared responded, realizing that Jensen was going with the tried and true method of avoiding the issue, or in this case the kiss. He'd let it go for now but not for long.

"Can you come grab this and put it on the fire, otherwise the floor, or me is going to be wearing half of it before I can get it there," Jensen grinned, praying Jared would just play along.

"Well, eating off the floor has never been my idea of fun," Jared said as he took the pot from his friend. "Now eating off of you is an altogether different story," Jared continued in an undertone."

Jensen relinquished the pot and was moving back towards the shelves to grab plates and cups. He froze at the second half of Jared's comment. He looked behind him, but was greeted by Jared's back. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to have heard that or not. His body was letting him know he definitely had, even as his brain was trying to come up with other combinations of words that he could have mistaken.

Jared kept his back turned, listening to Jensen make his way back to the shelves. He heard his friend come to a halt when the last part of his statement was uttered. Jared didn't even have to turn around to know that Jensen's eyes were on him, he could feel the heat rolling off his stare. Jared had decided to put his original plan back into action, and while the kiss had not been a part of it, well not at that particular time anyway, he didn't think it had hurt his overall intentions.

Jensen knew he heard what was said. The question was, was he meant too? Jared had said it just low enough that if he had been any further away Jensen wouldn't have heard it at all. His friend was really trying to drive him insane. That was the only reason Jensen could find for this new side of Jared. Jensen had never been attracted to aggressive guys before. Sure he liked men that were confident, but aggressive not so much. He guessed it had something to do with his Texas upbringing. A Texan just didn't bend to anyone's will, or that was his story, and he was sticking to it, thank you very much.

There in lay the problem, Jared was also Texan which left the quandary of would bend? Well it would be a quandary Jensen thought, if Jared was gay in the first place, but since he wasn't, Jensen was not going to address why his body went traitor whenever Jared started issuing orders. Suffice it to say, Jensen needed to have a good heart to heart with his libido, because these little mutinies were not making his life any easier. Jensen decided avoidance was the best choice, it worked so far, why mess with success?

Jared figured if Jensen could ignore the great big white elephant in the room, known as the kiss, then he could ignore it too. Jared learned a long time ago that in order to win anything involving emotions or feelings he had to be prepared to fight dirty. Jensen was very good at ignoring things he didn't want to deal with.

Jared left Jensen getting cups, and plates while he headed back out to fill the other pot with snow to melt, grinning when he heard Jensen muttering about stubborn ass people who thought they should be able to do things others couldn't.

By the time Jared made his way back in, Jensen had removed the pot from the fire and was pouring it into bowls. Jared put the pot of snow over the fire, watching it quickly turn to water, and pulling it off before it could get warm. They ate in silence, until Jensen couldn't stand it any longer.

"Do you think they've found the plane yet?"

"Doubtful, we were off course, and that storm rolled in pretty fast, I'm not sure, there was much of an opportunity. Why?" Jared asked, feeling that there was a reason for the question besides curiosity.

"Just wondering," Jensen replied, but before Jared could call bullshit continued. "I feel bad leaving David there like that. I know we couldn't afford to bring his body, and it wouldn't have made sense to anyway, but it just feels wrong."

Jared knew what he meant, he had battled with the same thoughts. "I know, I feel like we abandoned him. Damn, I even feel guilty that I made it, and he didn't."

"I've tried to keep it in the back of my head, I just hope they find him soon," Jensen sighed, wishing he could verbalize the feelings he had been having since walking away and leaving David's body to the elements. He knew Jared understood what he was feeling, it would just be nice to put it into words, then maybe he could get it out of his head for more than a few minutes at the time.

They turned back in after cleaning up the dishes and throwing a few more logs on the fire. Jared settled under the covers, and was drifting into sleep when he felt Jensen curl up by his side. He resisted the urge to pull Jensen's head onto his chest, afraid of scaring his friend away. Jared's eyes were almost closed again when he felt Jensen's hand reach up and brush the strands of hair out of his eyes.

"If it had been you, I couldn't have left," Jensen whispered, before laying back down, and snuggling even closer.

****************************************************************************************************************************

*Rescue Team*

The team had been moving for a solid five hours, stopping twice for breaks. There was an air of inevitability that clung to them, like the fates were leading them to what they were seeking, whether they were ready to find it or not.

Gideon's last call into the base had pissed him off so badly even Chris wasn't willing to find out what was making the usually laid back team leader look like, he might go ballistic. When they took the last break, Gideon had calmed down enough to give everyone an update without the urge to throw his satellite phone as far as he could.

"Okay folks. We've made great time, and we should be closing in on the plane soon. Keep your eyes open. You aren't going to be able to see the scattered debris. I don't want anyone going down, and hurting themselves on metal or any other foreign object," Gideon instructed.

Tom waited, knowing the team leader would get to the source of his irritation when he was ready, but it was becoming harder not to ask. He was sure if it were news of their friends he would have taken them aside and broke the news to them.

"I know you are wondering what base called in awhile back. Just let me say first that while it makes our job more difficult, we're not giving up." Gideon made eye contact with each of the five men waiting for an explanation.

"The helicopter won't be joining us for at least another day, maybe more. The part they flew in was the wrong one. They're trying to get one from the manufacturer, but production has been behind so it's going to take longer than normal," Gideon explained. "While this doesn't make me happy, we were pretty sure that with all the snow, there was a good chance that they wouldn't see the plane from the air. The only thing it affects is the extraction effort, but we've dealt with tough before, we'll do it again."

Gideon made his way over to the five men, watching them converse among themselves. His decision to tell everyone at once instead of trying to soften the blow was actually why he had waited until the break to give the bad news. He had come to respect them, and in that respect, he felt wrong in treating them like-they were less than the rest of his team.

"So what happens when we find them?" Chad asked-when Gideon was close enough to be heard without raising his voice.

"Depends on the injuries really, but if we need to, base will pull one of the sled teams if they can't redirect a chopper," Gideon responded. "We still can't use the snowmobiles. The terrain is too unstable-but the sled teams run this all the time."

"We going to be moving out soon?" Tom asked, before downing a bottle of water.

"Gonna give it about ten more minutes, then I'm going to call it. I did find something out about the pilot though, may have given them an easier time of it," Gideon offered. He debated even mentioning it, but figured it couldn't hurt either way.

"What's that?" Mike asked.

"I've been waiting on information about the pilot, I like to know about the people I'm looking for, what their strengths,and weaknesses are, how they might react in certain circumstances. Let's me get into their heads and run all kinds of scenarios," Gideon explained.

Steve wasn't really shocked. After Gideon's talk with Chris the last time, Chris was telling him his overall impressions of the team leader. Chris was a fucking great judge of character, so when he told him that Gideon was not only smart, but would do what it took to get to their friends, it made him just a little less anxious to know that they wouldn't be given up on. Listening to the man now Steve would venture to guess that there was a lot about him, they didn't know, and unfortunately probably wouldn't. He was a little saddened by the fact. He enjoyed having friends from every spectrum of life, Chris just laughed at him, called him a collector.

"So what did you find out?" Chris asked, patience running thin.

"The pilot's name is David Yagger. He used to be military. Damn good pilot. Everyone they talked to said if the plane was going down, he'd be the one they'd want flying it. Folks that have worked with him say he likes to be prepared, something he carried over with him when he left the service."

"Prepared how?" Steve decided to join the game of twenty questions.

"Always had an emergency pack with him, plus he kept a map marked with all the forestry cabin," Gideon explained. "They also thought he kept a tent, but they weren't sure on that one. Anyway, we've got about five more minutes, then we're going to be moving again."

"Thanks for letting us know about the pilot," Tom said, as Gideon started off in the direction of some other members of the team.

Gideon waved his hand, and continued over to the other group, checking in on them. After giving everyone the once over, and made sure there were no problems, Gideon gave them a few more minutes before making the call to move out again.

*************************************************************************************************

*Jensen and Jared*

 

The next time Jensen woke up he was alone. He wasn't going to examine why he was disappointed about that. Jensen watched as Jared came out of their indoor outhouse, and made his way over to the shelves, rummaging through the packaged meals. It always amused Jensen that no matter how quiet Jared tried to be, he never seemed to realize that sound carried.

Jensen could imagine the wide eyed look of disbelief on a three year old Jared's face, caught with his hand in the Oreo package. It would quickly morph to the puppy dog eyes that Jensen was sure he had perfected by the age of six months and, of course, he would have walked away with at least two Oreos before supper. Jensen was in so deep, even Jared's idiosyncrasies didn't bother him, they just made him love Jared even more.

Jared nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned around, and caught Jensen staring at him. He thought his friend would still be sleeping, so he was trying to be quiet as he looked through their food choices. He finally settled on some kind of scrambled egg thingy, and turned around to put it on the fire when he came face to face with Jensen watching him intently.

"Shit! Don't do that," Jared yelped, clutching his chest.

"What? I didn't do anything. I'm just sitting here," Jensen defended.

"Your supposed to still be asleep. That way, I could try this before trying to talk you into eating it," Jared said waving the packaged meal around.

"Jared, I hate to tell you this but, you're not very quiet," Jensen said, grinning at Jared's scowl.

"I am so, you just have bat hearing,"

"I have their eyesight too. Where did my glasses go?" Jensen asked, shuffling through the blankets looking for the case.

"I put it behind us. That way, we wouldn't roll over and crush them. Do you want one of these while I'm doing mine?" Jared waved the packaged meal in the air.

"Sure if we get food poisoning at least, we can do it together," Jensen said as he put his glasses on. "What did you pick out anyway?"

"Um.... some kind of egg and ham combo, it says add water and heat, so I don't think even I can mess that up." Jared made a face at the package as he opened it.

"I don't know, that waffle maker is still not the same," Jensen grinned as he ducked the wad of trash aimed at his head.

"That thing was possessed, I don't care what you say."

"Is that why you were trying to salt and burn it?"

"I was not trying to salt and burn it, the thing caught on fire. There wasn't even anything in it," Jared growled.

"Okay, Jared I believe you," Jensen grinned holding up his hands in surrender.

Jared crouched down in front of the fire as he put the meals over the grate. He wasn't going to leave it and give Jensen more ammunition if it started to burn. He kept his back to Jensen, thinking over where he wanted to take his plan next. Jensen obviously decided to ignore all the contact that Jared had been instigating. Jared wasn't sure what Jensen was filing the kiss under, but he knew that it hadn't been something to help his plan out.

Jensen watched as the strip of tan flesh that was visible between Jared's shirt and jeans, kept winking at him every time Jared moved. The memory of Jared's lips on his combined with his very active imagination, and the view of smooth skin finally drove Jensen to the bathroom. Jensen couldn't think coherently around that kind of a distraction. Seriously, it was either find some space or jump him. He was sure no one would hold it against him. Jensen groaned into his fist when said imagination gave him a wonderful picture of Jared spread over top of him.

Jared pulled the dinners off the fire and was transferring them onto plates when Jensen made it back from the bathroom. He had come to a decision while Jensen was in the other room, or whatever you wanted to call the outhouse. His plan was to slowly work his way under Jen's skin, to let him know that while he had never been with a guy, he wanted to be with Jen. He knew there was going to be some trial and error, not to mention some fuckups, but Jared knew he could do this. He had to do this, if he was going to get what he wanted. However, he'd come to the conclusion that he needed to step up his attack. He knew Jen was going to be hardheaded about things, but he hadn't anticipated Jensen ignoring him instead.

*****************************************************************************

*Rescue Team*

 

Gideon was mentally debating the pros and cons of stopping and setting up camp now or pushing for another hour or two. He wanted there to be enough light that they would be able to get camp ready, but he didn't want to waste any daylight, time that could be spent in the search. He edged to the side of his team taking in their condition, checking to see if anyone was struggling, or falling back. When he was comfortable that no one was faltering, he opted to move for another hour, splitting the difference in the time to compromise between the two needs.

Mike could almost see the wheels turning in Gideon's head. He had taken to watching the team leader, trying to read the nuances of his body language. Mike didn't do well with boredom, and even with paying attention to where to place your feet, he had still been getting bored. He decided trying to read the next step in Gideon's parade would at least keep him occupied for awhile.

Mike knew it would be getting dark soon. He was waiting for Gideon to give the command to stop and set up camp. He wasn't ready for Gideon to slide to the side and evaluate the team, until it dawned on him that Gideon was making the decision to continue or stop. He breathed a sigh of relief when the Gideon gave a nod and moved back forward, signaling to Mike, they would keep moving for a while longer.

Mike noticed that Chad had caught the shift as well, and he grinned at the other man. Chad just gave him a shake of his head, and a grin, shifting his pack to a more comfortable position on his back. Mike glanced back to where Chris and Steve trekked side by side. He caught Chris looking around several times, checking on everyone's progress. Tom had paired up during the last break with one of the team members, Mike was pretty sure it was the medic of the group. Knowing Tom he was getting the low down on what to expect with the guys being in the elements for so long, and how to help when they found them.

Steve checked his watch when Gideon finally called a halt. He realized they had about an hour before the sun set and it was already starting to get a little dim around the edges. He and Chris started setting up their tent, while Tom, Mike and Chad had a larger one that they shared. The team quickly readied for the night, setting up the sterno stoves so they could eat and settle in before he got too dark. Steve noticed Chad disappear after the tent was up and reappear fifteen minutes later.

"Hey, where did you get to?" Steve asked as Chad sat down. They were all sitting in the larger tent talking before going to bed.

"Wanted to talk to Gideon before everyone zipped up for the night," Chad replied, pushing Mike over when he tried to hog all the space.

"Yea, what did he have to say?" Tom grabbed Mike's arm as he tried to shove Chad back in retaliation.

"No news from base, but he's damn sure we're going to find that plane tomorrow. So what were you talking to that guy about?" Chad quirked an eyebrow at Tom.

"He wanted to know what we should expect when we found the guys, and what we could do to help," Mike answered for Tom.

"Shit, we have been working together too long," Tom cringed hearing his answer spill out of Mike's mouth almost verbatim.

Chris snickered into Steve's shoulder, "Maybe you have something to confess Tom."

"You mean something like Mike is my love bunny, and we were waiting until the right time to tell everybody sorta something?" Tom made doe eyes at Mike, while Mike made kissy faces at him.

"God, would you shut up! I swear you do that shit just to give me nightmares," Chad whined.

"Come on baby, you know I love you more," Mike cooed, edging up to Chad batting his eyelashes.

Chad rolled his eyes, and shoved him towards Tom, "Yea you only love me when it's convenient, I'm not putting out so go see your man of steel."

Chris and Steve cracked up. It never failed, when the other three men joined their outings the conversation disintegrated into high school locker room etiquette and slowly sped downhill to kindergarten pushing in line. They never lacked for entertainment. That was for sure.

They sat around talking for another hour or so before they turned in, Chris and Steve returning to their own tent.

Chris turned on his side letting Steve curl around him from behind, he leaned back into the warmth of Steve's embrace, sighing as burning muscles found relief. Steve leaned up kissing along his jaw before pulling him backwards enough to slid his tongue along the seam of Chris' lips. He deepened the contact when Chris' moaned opening to the pressure of Steve's tongue asking entry. When Steve pulled away, running his hands along Chris' arm, and up under his shirt over his chest, Chris shifted until he was facing Steve.

"We're supposed to be getting some sleep. Long day ahead of us tomorrow," Chris whispered, conscious of all the tents clustered together.

"Yes we are," Steve breathed into Chris' mouth as he leaned back in swallowing the next comment. "I just needed a reminder of what I can have when we drag the guys back home," he grinned as Chris licked his lips.

"That's a promise," Chris replied as he wrapped his arm and leg across Steve, "That's a promise."

************************************************************************************

*Jensen and Jared

 

Jared waited until they finished eating, and he had cleaned up before setting his next phase of Operation Make Jensen Mine into action. Jensen was leaning back on his elbows watching the fire when Jared turned back around. Jensen in profile with firelight flickering across his skin was a breathtaking picture. Jared slowly made his way into the room grabbing the first aid kit on his way.

"Hey," Jared said softly sitting down next to Jensen.

"Hey, what's up?" Jensen asked moving over to give Jared more room.

"I want to look at your foot, make sure you didn't set it back with that little stunt this morning,"

"I didn't use my foot Jared, it's fine, it doesn't even throb anymore,"

"Good, but I still want to take a look. Maybe we can take the wrap off," Jared wheedled.

Jensen sighed knowing Jared wasn't going to give up. "Fine, go ahead, you won't leave me in peace until you do," Jensen rolled his eyes at Jared's huge ass grin.

Jared took Jensen's foot and placed it on his thigh, he made sure it was steady but also close enough to his crotch to make things interesting later. He slowly unwrapped Jen's ankle, taking his time to stroke across every bit of skin that was revealed. Jared caught the slight intake of breath as he brushed his thumb across Jensen's instep, and over the ball of his foot. He glanced up needing to see Jensen's face, and almost groaned out loud. Jensen's face was flushed, his breathing coming quick and unsteady. His bottom lip was caught between his teeth.

Jensen was going to lose it, if Jared didn't get his hands off him. Jared was supposed to be checking his ankle, not whatever the hell he was doing now. Jared's hands were always a source of fascination to Jensen, and to have them on any part of his body was enough to make him come in his pants like a thirteen year old with his first boner. To have Jared caressing, yes damn it caressing, actual skin, his skin with those hands was enough to short out any brain functions that might still be lingering. He just about bit his lip in half when Jared stroked across his instep.

Jensen was still trying to keep his body in check. He could feel the heat radiating from Jared soaking into his leg where it rested on Jared's. He was wining the battle against looking at Jared's crotch, well damn it his foot was right there, when his foot brushed against something very hot and very hard, as Jared shifted it to the side to look at his ankle. Fuck, Jared was turned on, Jensen didn't have a clue what to do with this bit of information, well he did, but he wasn't going to use it. Jensen closed his eyes trying to marshal his breathing to something that would pass as normal.

"Swelling's gone down, I think we can leave the wrap off as long as you behave," Jared said, clearing his throat. "Let me look at that bump, it needs some more cream put on it anyway."

Jensen just nodded afraid to open his mouth, not willing to take the chance of what might pop out. He let Jared shift him, however he wanted, tensing only for a few seconds when Jared moved behind him.

Jared moved until he was behind Jensen, pulling him back to lean on his chest. He moved Jensen's head until it rested on his shoulder where he could see the gash clearly. He slowly carded his fingers through the silky texture of Jen's hair his breathing ruffling the strands. He felt a shiver run through Jensen's body, solidifying his next move for him. Jared moved the hair away from the injury and cleaned it carefully before spreading antibiotic ointment on it.

Jared could tell Jensen was shifting, getting ready for him to pull away. Jared had other ideas, though. He leaned down letting his lips glide across the exposed skin of Jensen's neck, relishing the low moan that vibrated deep in Jensen's chest. He ran his hands up Jensen's arms and back down, feeling the muscles ripple under his hands. He leaned back down capturing the lobe of Jensen's ear between his lips. He bit down gently, running his tongue over sensitive skin, dragging another moan from Jensen.

Jared wrapped an arm around Jensen's waist, pulling him in tighter to his body, so that their lower bodies were pressed as tightly together as their upper bodies. He felt Jensen shudder in his arms, unconsciously pressing back to get closer. Jared ran his tongue over Jensen's neck, dragging it upwards to his ear before flicking it inside. Jensen whimpered, hands coming to rest on Jared's thighs, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise.

Jared blew lightly over the moist skin. He brought his mouth back down nipping up the line of Jensen's neck. "God, Jensen do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do this?"


	10. Chapter 10

Late Day 5 through Day 6 *Jensen and Jared*

 

Jensen was lost in the sensations cascading through his body. He had imagined what it would feel like to be touched this way by Jared, but nothing even came close to the reality. His mind had lost all coherent thought at the first touch of Jared's lips on his skin. The slide of Jared's tongue over the shell of his ear, teeth scraping along his shoulder and neck, the feel of Jared hard against his back, and an impressive erection digging into his back, sent his higher brain functions buried under the avalanche of lust.

Jared's voice vibrated in his ear and all along his back short circuiting nerve endings, and dragging another moan from his throat, before he could stop it. It took several seconds for his brain to catch up with what Jared had said. It took a few more for Jensen to process the meaning behind those words.

Jared felt Jensen stiffen in his arms and eased up on the hold he had around Jensen's waist. He'd known that eventually Jensen's brain would react in spite of his body, he was just surprised it had taken as long as it did. Jared was prepared for Jensen to pull away, even try to put as much distance as possible between them, but he wasn't going to let him go outside, which was where it looked like Jensen was trying to head.

"Oh no you don't," Jared growled, pushing Jensen's crutch out of reach. "If you want space, I'll go clean up the supplies, but you're not going back out."

Jensen's shoulders slumped from their tensed position. Jared waited for him to argue or bitch, but what he got was silence. Jensen refused to meet his eyes, doing everything humanly possible to ignore Jared's six ft. four frame. Jared stood readjusting his jeans, as he headed to the other side of the cabin where their supplies were. When his back was to Jensen, he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

Jensen could fight it, could even pretend that he didn't want Jared but Jared was confident that he hadn't imagined Jensen's interest. It was now and undeniable fact, a fact that Jared intended to take complete advantage of. Oh yeah, Jensen was so his. The whole time Jared continued to straighten and inventory everything they had left, his mind drifted over all the little signs he once ignored.

Jared wasn't a jealous person by nature, but for some reason when the studio set Jensen up with women to be photographed with, Jared's sarcastic inner voice took the opportunity to tell him what it thought of them anyway. Oh, he had never voiced his thoughts, he was a guy after all, but man, he remembered some of the more colorful inner monologue. They set Jensen up with all types of women, short, tall, blonde, brunette and even one very curvy redhead none of which Jared deemed worthy to touch his friend. His helpful little voice had it's own descriptions ranging from, hussy, skank, whore, bitch and, his personal favorite, oh my God does she eat, ever.

The collection of girls Jared watched the studio parade around Jensen was bad enough, the worse happened however when they went out to relax. Jared seemed to drink a lot more than he typically did, and he was pretty damn sure it was Jensen's fault looking back at it now. They frequented the same bars, only occasionally branching out to new territory, neither ever drove so, they could both kick back, drink and relax for a few hours before hitting the grind again the next day. Jared always got his fair share of attention, getting looks from both sexes actually, but it was if a magnet had been placed in the center of table full of screws. Now that was apropos. As soon as people laid eyes on Jensen, the magnetic pull increased exponentially.

Jared always assumed that the reason he drank more when Jensen left with a guy was because his friend wasn't there to remind him, he had switched from beer to shots. Now though, Jared saw it for what it was: Jealousy, one hundred percent jealousy. Jensen may have been set up with a varied type of woman but he always left with the same type man, same height or taller than himself, with longer than average brunette hair, Jared never paid it much attention, but now it was like a glaring neon sign, one he's sure that Jensen didn't even realize he had built, or didn't think Jared would ever notice, seeing as how Jared was supposed to be straight. So Jared could still blame his over indulgence of alcohol on Jensen. Thank God, at least, I'm not turning into an alcoholic.

Jensen wanted out, out of the cabin and out of the confusion eating at his brain and burning a hole in his stomach. He knew there was no way in hell, he'd even make it halfway to the door, much less out it, before Jared would be on him. He groaned, maybe he shouldn't use the terminology Jared and on him in the same thought. He was having a hard , enough time getting his body under control, damn it, so not cool, his mind supplied when his cock twitched at the mention of the word hard. Jensen glanced up verifying Jared's position, and the door, he slowly pushed to his feet when Jared's voice made him jump.

"Don't even try it. I've already told you, you're not going out in the cold again," Jared calmly stated, not even turning around.

"Who died and made you king?" Jensen bit out.

"I actually instigated a coupe, did you miss it? I'll have to see if CNN has the video coverage," Jared turned grinning.

"Obviously, and in the coupe did you somehow receive a blow to the head? I'm sensing maybe you should be checked for brain damage," Jensen snarked.

Jared's brow furrowed as he struck a pose of deep thought. "Nope, no hits to the head. All brain cells functioning properly."

"Well then, what the fuck was that?" Jensen growled, unable to keep the stress out of his voice.

"I would have thought that was fairly obvious. Are you sure you're not the one brain damaged? You did take a hard knock to your head," Jared asked complacently.

"No, what I am, is fucking confused. I didn't think you'd screw with me like that."

"I'm not screwing with you. I meant exactly what I said, and what I did," Jared said leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest.

"So what? You need a little stress relief? Didn't have time to experiment when you were younger?" Jensen snarled, trying to cover the pain of Jared using him that way.

"You know damn well, I don't do shit like that." Jared spat as he pushed off the wall, anger flushing his face. 

He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from grabbing Jensen and shaking him until he admitted what stupid shit he'd just spouted. Jared didn't stop moving until he was in Jensen's face, breathing the same air. There were so many things he wanted to stay, but when he was finally able to catch Jensen's eyes, he forgot every single one of them. Jared's anger leaked away as he saw confusion and sadness, pass across Jensen's face, but it was nothing compared to the hurt in Jensen's eyes. That look of pain took Jared's breath away

Jared knew he ran the risk of Jensen bolting, but he couldn't stop himself from reaching up and cupping Jensen's face in his hands. "Do you really think I would do that to anyone, much less you?" 

Jensen's breath was coming in harsh gulps of air. He knew Jared wouldn't, he did, but none of this made any sense at all. Jensen was so overwhelmed by what he desperately wanted, and the knowledge that he couldn't have Jared, that being teased with it was ripping him apart. Jensen wasn't even aware that Jared had moved from his place leaning against the wall until he was faced with 6' 4" of pissed off man. He thought maybe Jared was going to throw a punch. He didn't catch the anger draining out of Jared's body. He was certainly unprepared for Jared to reach up and take his face in those huge hands.

"I know, I'm sorry. I just don't understand what you want from me." Jensen whispered.

"I don't want anything you don't want to give me Jensen. I hope you'll give me a chance to explain, and then you can decide what you want to do with that information." Jared moved his hand lifting Jensen's chin, so he could see Jensen's eyes.

Jensen took a deep breath, nodding his head slightly. "Can we sit down though? I don't know how much longer, I can stand on my foot."

Jared couldn't believe he hadn't realized Jensen was standing on his both his feet and not using the crutch. "Damn it Jen, sit your ass down, I'm going to start some water boiling. There's some instant coffee over there somewhere. Don't even pull that face, instants better than nothing right now."

Jared waited for the water to boil, taking it to the sink area to add it to the cups. He kept glancing a Jensen, trying to decide how to start this conversation. There wasn't any great ice-breakers that he could come up with so jumping right in seemed the only option.

Jared stood looking at Jensen for a few minutes before moving to join him. Jensen's body radiated tension, he was also biting his nails, something Jared had never seen him do before. Jared sighed, picking up the cups. Time to get this party started 

Jensen eased himself down to sit on the blankets, waiting for Jared to finish with the coffee. He wanted to tell Jared not to worry about the coffee, but he decided it might be nice to have something to do with his hands during Jared's explanation. It was more than likely what Jared was thinking too. Jensen caught himself biting his fingernails, a habit he had broken in his teen years. He jumped when Jared nudged him with his foot. When he looked up Jared was standing there holding out his cup of coffee.

"Called your name three times, where did you go?" Jared asked, setting the cup in his friend's hand.

"Thanks," Jensen took the offered cup. "Just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" Jared sipped his coffee, watching Jensen.

"I owe you an apology. I know you wouldn't use me like that. I do, Jared. I'm really sorry," Jensen sighed.

"Okay, but you don't owe me an apology either. How about you tell me why you'd automatically jump to the conclusion that I was using you?" Jared asked, watching Jensen closely. He was positive this had a lot to do with why Jensen didn't think he could have a real relationship.

"Jared, I just don't rate high on the relationship scale. Everybody that's ever been interested in me has either wanted to fuck me because of who I was, or what I could do for them, obviously there's something not right about me." Jensen's matter of fact sharing of confidences, and the shrug of his shoulders, told Jared that he truly believed what he was saying.

Jared knew telling Jensen that was total bullshit wouldn't get him anywhere. Jensen had apparently carried this around for quite some time and just telling him wasn't going to make Jensen change his mind any time soon. In light of this kernel of knowledge Jared was just going to have to show him, but he needed to start by explaining some of the many self truths he discovered over the last several days. He decided to start with the Sandy thing, it was going to be the hardest hurdle to jump, him not being so straight was going to be the second.

"Jensen, I need to tell you a few things, and let me get a complete sentence finished before you start asking questions. Okay?"

"Sure, is everything alright? Your families okay right? Jensen's rapid fire questions made Jared laugh.

"Yes they're all fine, but this is what I was talking about. Let me finish one sentence, and then you can ask all the questions you want," Jared grinned at Jensen's sheepish expression.

"I broke up with Sandy about a two weeks ago. I haven't told anyone, but I'm sure at this point it's gotten out." Jared confessed.

"What the hell happened, did she cheat on you? That doesn't sound like something she'd do, but I guess anything's possible. Are you okay? Why didn't you tell me? We've talked on the phone, you could have told me then." Jensen finally wound down enough that Jared could start answering.

"No she didn't cheat on me, I broke up with her because I didn't feel the same way for her. I still love her but not the way I should. I should want to be with her every free minute and when I don't have a free minute, she shouldn't be far from my thoughts. When I have important news, I should want to share it with her first, or if there's a new place in town, and I want to check it out she should be the one I want to go with, and she's not, not anymore. I woke up a couple of months ago and realized I didn't miss her the way I once did, so I gave myself a month to make sure I wasn't going through some crises, or depression, or whatever you want to call it." Jared watched Jensen's face as he took in everything that had been said.

"You still didn't tell me why you never let me know," Jensen asked again.

"I broke up with Sandy over the hiatus Jen. I didn't want to call you and tell you because you would be doing exactly what you're doing now. I wanted to be able to tell you face to face that I was fine, and you could see for yourself. You know you wouldn't have believed me unless you could make sure. For the record I'm fine, better than fine actually." Jared smiled remembering the relief he felt after making his decision and following through. "Sandy deserves someone that will love her the way she should be loved, and so do you," Jared finished softly.

"Yea, well maybe but it hasn't happened in twenty eight years, I'm of the opinion it's not going to happen. Are you sure you gave it enough time, that your not going to regret breaking up with Sandy in a few months?" Jensen was still trying to wrap his head around the Jared breaking up thing. If there had ever been a couple that was perfect for each other it was them. They had been together for three years for God's sake.

"Oh, I'm sure. See the thing is all those things I should have wanted to do with Sandy, there was already someone that had filled that place. I just didn't realize it until recently," Jared grinned watching Jensen's brow furrow in concentration.

"Man we work sixteen hours a day, when in the hell have you had time to hook up?" Jensen asked totally lost, as he thought back trying to place any lingering looks or not so innocent touches with anyone on the set or off for that matter. 

"Come on Jen you know me better than that. I would never cheat on someone I was with. I haven't hooked up with anyone. I just discovered someone was already there all this time."

"Who? Because I'm coming up blank man," Jensen asked, hoping he wasn't going to have to run some skank off.

"You."

************************************************************************************************************************************

*Rescue Team*

 

The camp was packed and the team was suited up and ready in the pale lighting of the sky. Gideon had everyone moving as soon as the sun graced the horizon. He could almost feel how close they were, that's why stopping the night before had just about killed him. He hated being so close, and then having to wait, but he wasn't going to risk anyone on his team because he was impatient. The team would hit it fast and hard but would hit it safe.

Everyone was subdued as they trudged through the snow, more than one team member focusing on their snowshoes. It had been a long six days. They still had no idea if this was a rescue or a recovery mission and it was starting to take it's toll on everyone. They traveled for two hours before taking a break to rest and rehydrate.

Chris and Steve were talking together, as Tom and Chad were debating how well the new draft choices had preformed, and who they though would be heading to the Super Bowl. Mike was talking to a couple of the other team members about past missions. When Gideon announced the five minute's left mark everyone pulled on their packs and readjusted their snowshoes, wanting to be ready to move when the time came.

It took them another hour until they found the plane. Gideon had been right, the helicopter probably wouldn't have seen it from the air. Their first glimpse of the plane took their breath away. The plane was in two pieces. The front had been stopped by something, rocks maybe it was hard to tell with everything covered in a thick blanket of snow. The back half had kept sliding when it sheared apart. They could see the gaping hole in the back compartment, wires and insulation hanging down like tattered streamers waving in the breeze.

Chris hissed out a breath, trying to get the sickening feeling of dread to release its grip on his heart. He reached out and grabbed Steve's hand. Steve squeezed it back attempting to ground himself as well. This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't. 

Mike turned his back to the plane, throat working hard around the lump that was threatening to close off his oxygen intake. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Chad was standing beside him looking out into the expanse of white. "You think this is what they saw the first time they looked out of that mess?"

"I don't know man, this is just fucked up," Mike's reply was hoarse.

"He kept it upright," Tom said beside them. "I don't know how, especially with it splitting in two, but he kept it upright. It didn't roll, that would have been worse."

Chris smiled listening to Tom. Only he would be looking at the sunshiny side of this cluster fuck. Steve smiled back at him knowing without words, exactly what he was thinking.

Gideon cleared his throat. This was one a new one on him, but like Tom had said, it didn't flip nor had it caught on fire. He had been to a few that had caught on fire. The sight of charred bodies was bad, but the smell soaked into your pores. It took him months to get that smell off his body and out of his nose. He shivered at the recollection. Well, it was time to get this show on the road. Everyone had their first look, and was over the initial shock. It was time to get to work.

"This is how we're going to do this. I'm splitting us in half, one for the front and one for the back section. You'll pair up in two's just like travel. One of you will have a camera for documentation. It makes it easier on the NBTS if they know what it looked like before we traipsed through it," Gideon said as he dug into his pack, producing eight cameras and film.

"The other will be in charge of writing down impressions as you go. You find the guys you radio me. Shawn you're in the back half," he told the medic. "I can deal with most medical crises until Shawn is free, so I'm up front."

"Tom I want you paired up with Shawn. Mike and Chad I want you in the back section. Pay special attention to anything that you think is out of the ordinary. Chris and Steve you're with me. Steve take the camera, I've seen Chris wield a pencil." Gideon smiled. He knew the men were stressed at the sight of the plane. The best thing to do was to get them involved. It helped in dealing with the feeling of hopelessness.

"Yea, but have you actually tried to read what he's written?" Steve and Chad asked at the same time.

"No, so I guess someone will have to transcribe later, huh?" Gideon grinned.

"Not gonna be me," Steve mumbled and then yelped when Chris poked him in the ribs.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Team AssEnd, as Mike had dubbed them, approached the back section of the plane carefully, taking care not to trip over any hidden debris. Three pairs of team members ducked inside the plane avoiding swinging wires and slapping metal, while the remaining pair took pictures of the outside.

Once the team members cleared the opening, they took a minute for their eyes to adjust. Mike let out a visible sigh when he saw nothing but seats and plundered cargo. Chad caught his eye, smiling grimly. Chad knew how Mike felt. He wanted desperately to find their friends but didn't know if he would have been able to handle the very real possibility that they hadn't made it. All they could hope for was that they were alive and well in the front section.

Tom and Shawn were leaning over a seat near where the supplies were stacked. Tom glanced up when Mike and Chad moved closer, not looking forward to telling them what they had found. He wasn't happy about it himself, he knew they were going to be worried even more than they had been seeing the plane.

"What did you find?" Chad asked, moving closer trying to get a look at what was so intriguing.

"Blood, not a lot, nothing to be worried about by itself," Shawn answered meeting Chad's eyes. "We expected some injuries. Looks like a knock to the head, maybe a cut, but it's no more blood than what you'd have in a normal household accident."

Shawn watched as some of Chad's tension eased, Mike seemed to follow suit, looking around, taking in their surroundings now that he was closer to where one of the guys had been.

"It looks like whoever was back here was in good enough shape to rummage through the supplies," Mike mused.

"I think Gideon has the list of everything that was loaded," Shawn offered.

"I got a look at it before we left," Tom added. "There was some dried and canned foods, plenty of wardrobe, so they could layer up and some other odds and ends that would make things easier."

"Did you see scraping right outside the opening?" Chad asked. "Looks like something was drug."

"No, I was too busy trying to see back here. It's amazing everything didn't get lost in all the snow," Shawn remarked as he continued to look around at the seats.

"The wreckage must have protected that area from the storm."

"Hey Mike, does this look like it's been cut to you?" Tom asked, leaning across one of the seats.

"Yea, wonder why?" Mike frowned.

"This one's cut too," Chad said as he looked over another seat.

"Maybe, rigging," Shawn said. "They could have used it to pull something."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve stopped every few feet to snap pictures, wanting everything documented as much as possible. He had just raised the camera to his face and focused when a chill ran through him. He yanked the camera away, looking over at Chris needing to know if he had seen the same thing. Chris was oblivious. Thank God, but Gideon wasn't.

Gideon reached out and placed a hand on Steve's shoulder, offering silent support. Of course Chris noticed that. Steve would have rolled his eyes at Chris' possessive streak if he hadn't been so terrified of what they were going to find. Chris looked from Steve to Gideon waiting for someone to tell him what the hell was going on. When his patience finally ran out, he pinned Gideon with an angry glare.

"What?" He growled out.

"It doesn't look like the pilot made it," Gideon said quietly.

Chris spun back around, narrowing his eyes against the glare of the sun. He was able to make out what appeared to be a silhouette but what sent his heart plummeting was the arm hanging out of the window.

"Fuck!" Chris breathed. 

Steve didn't have time to reach out and grab Chris before he was moving as quickly as his snowshoes allowed. Gideon, however, had been prepared for the reaction, and was able to grab Chris' arm before he made it completely past him.

"Let me the fuck go," Chris hissed between clenched teeth.

"No, five more minutes aren't going to change the outcome of what we find," Gideon replied calmly.

"You don't know that!" Chris' voice was steadily rising.

Gideon looked at him for a minute. "No, I don't, but I'm not going to lose you or anyone else on my team because you went off half cocked and impaled yourself on debris. I'm sure Steve doesn't want to lose you on top of everything else either." Gideon finished as Steve put his arm around Chris' tense shoulders.

Gideon waited for the rest of their team to catch up, watching as Steve talked quietly to Chris. Gideon couldn't hear what was being said, but he could see the tension ease from Chris' body. Gideon was sure Chris didn't know that he was leaning into Steve. It always amazed Gideon that no matter how tough or emotionally withdrawn a person was their body always sought what they may not be able to acknowledge.

"It looks like the pilot didn't make it folks. When we get inside our first priority is survivors, second is body retrieval. Same rules apply teams of two, move slowly and carefully." Gideon finished pivoting gracefully on his snowshoes, and headed for the front section of the plane.

Gideon entered first, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the murky light filtering through snow shrouded windows. His first visual sweep showed no bodies, dead or otherwise.

"Well shit," he said under his breath.

"What?" Chris and Steve's voices overlaid each other spiking with anxiety as they cleared the opening.

"We need to double check, but it doesn't look like they're here," Gideon glanced over his shoulder at the shocked looks on the men's faces.

"The hell you mean they aren't here?" Chris pushed past Gideon, looking for his friends. He saw only twisted metal, debris clogged aisles, but no Jensen or Jared.

Steve finally made it into the aisle, moving steadily forward, looking at seats, trying to determine where the guys had been when the plane went down. His gaze snagged on one of the windows, the snow backlighting the blood smeared across it. If he had bothered to eat much of anything this morning he was sure he would have lost it. He moved closer looking for other signs of trauma, but only saw a seat that must have come loose during the crash.

He heard Chris moving behind him, knowing that he had to have seen the blood by now. He reached his hand back and felt relief pour through him when Chris' hand slid into his squeezing gently. They both looked up when Gideon leaned in to peer closer at the blood staining the window and seat.

"It's not arterial, that's good. Looks like he smacked his head on the window during landing, or crashing in this case," Gideon mused out loud. "Perfectly normal injury during a crash. There's not an overabundance of blood, pretty standard amount for a head wound really, they tend to bleed like a bitch."

Steve not being able to continue looking at the blood any longer, was looking at the seat that was tossed on top of the others. There weren't any bolts attached to it, but that wasn't necessarily strange, what was, though was there was no twisting or rending of metal it was still in great condition. When he looked at the floor he could see where it had been unbolted not ripped from its spot.

"Guys look at this," Steve glanced up to make sure he had their attention. "Someone took this seat apart, it didn't come loose on impact."

"People get their feet caught under them all the time either bracing themselves or the impact just pushes them forward and under it." Gideon explained. He looked over the seat support at the bottom not seeing any blood, or tissue. "Looks like maybe that's what happened, but there's no blood so that means it was probably just stuck."

Gideon pulled out his radio, sure that if the other team had found them, they would have radioed, but he wanted to make sure. He hit the call button making sure they were paying attention.

"Pilot DOA, passengers not in front section, over." He waited for Shawn's reply watching Chris and Steve tense when the radio squawked back. "Passengers not in back section, May have found note, weather obliterated, over"

Gideon scowled at the radio before taping the call. "Meet in middle thirty minutes, over." Several seconds later Shawn's reply filtered back, "Will do over and out."

Gideon looked at the rest of the team that gathered just inside. "Everyone take a look around. Anything out of place, I want to know about it. These guys pulled out before the storm I'll guarantee. I want to know anything that will give us an idea of what shape they were in, what they took, and if they had any idea of where they were headed."

He turned and looked at Steve and Chris, "They're smart. There was no way they could weather proof this against that storm and they wouldn't have been able to start a fire with all the flammable liquids that leaked out of the plane. If they left another note, they left it with the pilot. They would know it's one of the first places we would go when they weren't here, so let's go see just how smart your boys are." Gideon said, starting for the cockpit.

Steve shook his head a little shell shocked. When he turned around Chris gave him the universal gesture for 'after you'. They started up the incline, careful not to trip and find themselves sprawled at the bottom. By the time they made it to the cockpit, Gideon had removed the blanket that someone placed over the pilot. Gideon started with the pilot's shirt pockets moving, across to the other.

"Gideon, what's that right there?" Chris was pointing at something by the pilot's front pocket.

"Bubble wrap, looks like." Gideon leaned down, retrieving it from under the harness. "Might be what we're looking for. Why don't you head on down, I'm just going to take a quick look around then I'll be right there."

When Gideon made it down, one of the other team members reported that there was part of a crate side laid out in a clear section of the plane. They also reminded him, they only had about fifteen minutes in which to meet the other half of the team. Gideon sat down with Steve and Chris, unwrapping the bubble wrap and unfolding the piece of paper. He read it over quickly, a grin breaking out across his face. It faded quickly though as he thought about all the things that could have gone wrong with Jensen and Jared's plan.

"Well what does it say?" Chris asked.

"It says they're fine, a little beat up, but good. They have supplies and a map marked with forestry cabins. They're heading there to wait out the storm and for someone to come pick their asses up." Gideon smiled again watching relief wash over the other two men. He needed to make sure they realized the risk that the guys had taken, but he had a feeling they already knew and he wasn't about to burst their bubble right now.

Gideon had two of the team members move the pilot's body from the cockpit. They pulled out a lightweight body bag and carefully placed the pilot's body in it, laying it on, what Gideon thought was a makeshift pallet the guys had made. The team tromped outside to meet the other half, hoping they had news that would make them feel better about the other two men leaving the plane.

***********************************************************************************************

*Jensen and Jared*

 

"Me?" Jensen voice came out a squeak, *he would deny that to his dying breath though.*

"Yes you," Jared grinned at the total look of disbelief on Jensen's face.

"Jared you're straight," Jensen frowned, checking to make sure Jared wasn't playing some joke on him.

"Not so much apparently." Jared waited for Jensen to meet his eyes. "I've been feeling things, thinking things, for a long time now. I just wasn't sure what they were, or maybe I was too scared to admit it to myself. I look back at situations and how I reacted to them, and I just want to beat my head against a wall for being so damned slow on the uptake."

"Head injury, wouldn't suggest it," Jensen quipped.

"Smart ass, I was speaking metaphorically."

"What situations are you talking about anyway?" Jensen asked, perplexed. He really couldn't stand puzzles. They irritated him until, he found all the pieces.

"Well for instance, all the girls that you have draped all over you all the time." Jared held up a hand, ticking off a finger.

"You know that's for show man, but what's that have to do with anything?"

"Well they have some pretty specific names that I call them." Jared scowled thinking about the tramps fawning, all over Jensen. "Then there were the guys you left with when we went out." Jared ticked off another finger.

"You didn't seem to mind. That's why I always made sure we took a cab. That way I knew you would get home okay." Jensen brow furrowed trying to understand why that would bother his friend.

"I'm not talking about you leaving, I'm talking about you leaving with a substitute for me." Jared decided to lay it all on the line if he was going to push.

"Substitute, what the fuck Jay? I wasn't using anybody as a substitute." Jensen denied.

"Oh really, that's why they were all taller than you with shaggy brown hair?" Jared asked, watching as Jensen came to the realization, that in fact he had been using them as substitutes. "Come on Jen, you're smart, how could you not catch on to that one?" 

"I honestly never thought about it. I wouldn't leave with someone until I got so tired of being alone I thought I'd go nuts," Jensen grimaced at how pathetic that sounded.

"The things you do for me when most people wouldn't even think to." Jared ticked off another finger.

"You're my best friend, Jay. Of course I do things for you." Jensen was starting to get desperate with Jared not seeing the light.

"Okay, let me rephrase, not what you do but how you do it. Wait a minute and I'll tell you," Jared said holding up his hand as Jensen was about to protest.

"You make sure I eat when I get wrapped up in some drama. You take the dogs for me when I'm going home and you're not. You listen to me when I go all psycho paranoid about how a scene went and you don't make me feel like an idiot about it later." Jared took a quick breath. "The fact of the matter is Jen, I've wanted what I have with you in every person, I ever dated. I've looked for it in folks I pass on the street, and it was in front of me the whole time, and if you think I'm giving that up, you don't know me very well."

The bad thing was Jensen knew Jared better than Jared knew himself. He also knew he was not getting out of this unscathed, Jared was like a shark. When he smelled blood, sensed a weakness, he closed in for the kill. He was really very ruthless under that laid back good ole boy exterior, Jared had a core of steel and when it came to something he felt was important. You either fell in or got the hell out of the way. Jensen was pretty sure Jared wasn't leaving him the get the hell out of the way option, damn it.

Jared came to the conclusion after an hour of going over the same facts for the fiftieth time that action was going to be required. He looked Jensen in the eye, took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly. "I'm not going to let you short change me, but more importantly I'm not going to let you short change yourself. You are the most generous, talented, funny, loyal person, I know. The bullshit you think about yourself, it's a figment of your overactive imagination. If I have to spend the next fifty years proving that to you, I will." Jared stated, leaning forward and grabbing Jensen by the back of the neck and dragging him up against his body.

When Jared's lips came down on Jensen's , they were soft and gentle, nothing like the first time. Jared stroked his tongue along Jensen's bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth and biting down gently. He released it running his tongue along the swollen flesh, tasting pure Jensen. Jensen groaned deep in his throat, parting his lips letting Jared's tongue inside to tangle with his. Jared tightened his grip on Jensen's hair, where his hands had made a home, angling his head, so he could deepen the kiss. Jared didn't know if he would ever be able to get deep enough in Jensen to satisfy the craving, but he was damn sure going to give it his best.

Jensen had tried to get Jared to understand that what he thought he was feeling wasn't real, it was brought on by stress, adrenaline, and relief. Jensen even switched back to the you're not gay tact, with no better results, Jared wasn't having any of it. He tried explaining that Jared obviously liked girls, that living life as a straight man was so much easier than being gay. Jensen's parents loved him, and while they accepted, he was the way he was, Jensen wouldn't go so far as to say they were happy about it. They loved him no matter what, but his upbringing had always frowned on homosexuals, so when he finally had to tell them he was prepared to be disowned. Thank God it hadn't happened because he didn't know if he would have survived it, but he had been tired of lying to people he cared about.

Jensen was terrified that if Jared continued on with the, I'm not straight stance, he may not be so lucky, and he knew Jared couldn't live without his family. Jensen, of course, knew Jared's family, had hung out with them, been to family events. He knew they loved Jared, but no matter how much you thought you knew someone, you just never knew what the response to 'I'm gay' was going to be. It's always up in the air until the bomb actually dropped. Jensen never wanted to see Jared hurt like that. Unfortunately, Jared wasn't cooperating. Jensen was just about to try again when Jared made an impatient sound in the back of his throat. The next thing Jensen knew, he was plastered against Jared's body, and being kissed within an inch of his life.

Jared tightened his grip when it felt like Jensen was trying to pull away, refusing to let Jensen's fear tear them apart. He relaxed some when he realized all Jensen was doing was trying to get closer, Jensen's hands came up to grab his biceps, holding on while Jared continued to kiss him senseless. Jared pulled back, the need for oxygen outweighing the need to continue exploring Jensen's mouth and leaned his forehead against Jensen's as they both panted for breath. He ran his hands up and down Jensen's arms, "I want this Jen. I want you and everything that comes with it," Jared whispered.

Jensen pulled back to search Jared's face, looking for any uncertainty, any sign of self-doubt. When he didn't find any, he dropped his eyes. He didn't need to search his own feelings, he had wanted Jared for so long it was like an accompanying ache with every beat of his heart, every breath, he took. Something he never thought he could have was being offered to him, all he had to do was reach out and grab it. He was scared to death. He still believed he wouldn't be enough, wouldn't be what Jared thought he was, but damn if he would give up the one opportunity, he would sell his soul for. Jensen took Jared's face in his hands, bringing it up until he could look Jared in the face.

"Yes."

It was like a weight was lifted off Jared's shoulders. He knew he was grinning like an idiot but he just didn't care. He couldn't even imagine how Jensen had hid his feelings. Jared needed to find out just how long Jensen had been that. It had only been days for him, and it'd felt like someone was suffocating him, not being able to show Jensen how he felt.

Jensen decided that Jared had been in the lead for long enough, he pulled Jared in closer placing small kisses against his parted lips. He'd waited so long for this, he intended to tak his time. Jensen wanted their first time together to be something they would both remember for the rest of their lives. He was also very aware that it was Jared's first time with a man. Jensen ran his hands along Jared's arms, feathering gentle touches with firmer pressure over the muscles he found there. Jared moaned in the back of his throat as Jensen ran his tongue along kiss swollen lips, dipping in to slide across teeth, running his tongue over the roof of Jared's mouth, before tangling with Jared's.

Jared was more than happy to give control over to Jensen, knowing he was getting ready to cross out of his comfort zone. He wasn't scared per say, but he was definitely nervous. Jensen was almost in his lap the way they were sitting, not that Jared was complaining, but he wanted to be able to touch and this angle was impeding his ability to do that. Jensen must have come to the same conclusion because he pulled back lifting the hem of Jared's shirt up and over his head, pushing Jared backwards to lay on the blankets once the shirt was off.

Jensen stood up and pulled his shirt off, limping over to his duffle, Jared was about to protest when Jensen entered his line of vision again carrying a small bottle of lube and condoms. Jared took a deep breath, blowing it slowly. "You know we don't have to do this?" Jensen asked as he sat down next to Jared, pushing his bangs out of Jared's eyes, so he could see what Jared was thinking. 

Jared could tell Jensen was preparing to back off, "I do want to do this, I'm just nervous. Do you know how long it's been, since I've been the blushing virgin?" He quipped.

"Well if your drunken confession was correct, then you were seventeen and since you're now twenty three that means it's been six years, not so very long ago that you shouldn't still be comfortable with it," Jensen grinned knowing he was going to pay for that comment.

It didn't take long either, Jared grabbed the arm he was leaning on and yanked Jensen forward across his chest. Jensen's brain blew a fuse when skin slid across skin for the first time, "Jesus, Jared."

Jared didn't even bother commenting just brought their lips back together for a searing kiss. Jensen wasn't going to last long if Jared had his way about it. He pulled back, ignoring Jared's grunt of disapproval. Jensen leaned in kissing along Jared's jaw to his neck, sucking the tender flesh between his lips, marking Jared, wanting everyone to know Jared was his. He bit down before releasing his prize, looking for new places to explore. He slid further down, running his tongue across Jared's collarbone from one side to the other, continuing his descent until he came to the first tight nipple. 

Jared's hips bucked off the floor when Jensen sucked the taut nub into his mouth, rolling it between his teeth and teasing it with his tongue. Jensen continued to torment Jared with little licks against abused flesh before moving to the other nipple to give it the same treatment. Jensen arched back as Jared ran blunt fingernails along his spine to the top of his waist band, and that right there had to stop, or he wouldn't last to the main event. Jensen reached back grabbing Jared's hands bringing them up over his head. When Jensen chanced a look down into Jared's face, he saw confusion and maybe a little bit of hurt. Jensen leaned up to brush a kiss across Jared's lips before nuzzling along his neck to his ear, "I want to show you how good we can be together, but if you keep doing that, I'm not going to last. You can touch next time," he punctuated his statement with a swipe of his tongue along the shell of Jared's ear, ending by slipping in to swirl around the inside.

Jared moaned at the assault on his ear, savoring the knowledge that Jensen wasn't trying to deny what they both wanted anymore. His hips came off the floor again when Jensen sucked a path from the middle of his chest all the way down to his navel. Jensen ran his tongue along the rim, over and over until Jared was whimpering, Jensen flicked his tongue into the little hole cataloguing every sound that came out of Jared's mouth. Jensen continued the assault on Jared's navel as he popped the button on Jared's jeans, pulling the zipper down slowly, the press of hard, hot flesh against his knuckles. He'd have to remember to ask Jared about going commando later, but right now the musky scent assailing his senses was making it very hard to hold onto the go slow mantra.

Jensen swirled his tongue in the hairs below Jared's navel pulling on them with his teeth, listening to Jared's gasps and moans. Jensen shifted a little lower nuzzling into the course hairs, Jared's cock bumping his chin, leaving a wet trail glimmering in the stubble covering his face. Jensen slid one hand up the outside of Jared's leg and across his stomach leaving his arm there to keep Jared from bucking him off. Jared's breathing was so erratic that Jensen was worried about him hyperventilating. He lifted his head up waiting for Jared to make eye contact. 

Jared lifted his head, looking down the length of his body, breath stalling in his throat at the picture of Jensen poised over his cock, eyes locked on his. Jensen ever so slowly lowered his head, running the tip of his tongue over Jared's cock, dipping into the slit to collect the bead of precome bubbling from the head. He licked a wide path along the side, up and over, sliding it down the shaft and continuing down to Jared's balls, smiling when he heard Jared's head thunk against the floor. He sucked, first one then the other into his mouth, running his tongue over warm flesh.

Jensen opened the bottle of lube with the flip of a thumb, coating his fingers with the slick substance waiting for it to warm before sliding it along the crease of Jared's ass. Jared tensed at the unfamiliar sensation but relaxed again when Jensen sucked a mark into his inner thigh. Jensen moved back up, scrapping stubble across sensitive skin, and licking away the burn. Jensen's mouth watered at the sight of hard blood-flushed skin, he pursed his lips, blowing across the head, listening to Jared keen above him. He slid spit slick lips down over the head taking Jared's cock to the back of his throat, only to pull up and slide down again.

Jared was thrashing underneath him, threatening to pitch Jensen off. Jensen wrapped his tongue around the head on every upstroke, laving along the shaft as he took Jared's cock back into the hot, moist cavern of his mouth. He slid his finger across the puckered entrance rubbing, back and forth until Jared started pressing down. Jensen slid the tip of his finger in, feeling Jared's muscles clamp down around him. He sucked Jared to the back of his throat, pushing his finger all the way in at the same time. Jared's hips bucked forward against the pressure of Jensen's arm and then back down onto his finger.

Jensen pulled his finger out, loving the sound of a disgruntled Jared. He slid two fingers in, rotating them, looking for that spot that always made him see stars. He knew he hit it when Jared's body went rigid, gasping Jensen's name before shooting warm jets of come down Jensen's throat. Jensen sucked him through his orgasm, scissoring his fingers stretching him while he was recovering. Jensen added another finger, as he continued stretching Jared until he was certain, he would only cause Jared a minimum amount of pain. Jensen hated the thought that of hurting Jared, but it was a fact that some was involved.

Jensen angled his fingers to rub across the little nub over and over again until Jared was gasping for breath, and his cock was hard again and weeping. Jensen pulled his fingers away leaning across Jared's body so that he could kiss the moans from his mouth. Jared focused glazed eyes on Jensen's, grabbing the back of his neck to bring him in for a bruising kiss. Jared knew this was Jensen's way of making sure there were no second thoughts, no doubt, and wanting Jared's permission to continue.

"Jensen please," Jared begged through swollen lips.

"Yea, Jared. It's going to hurt some, just breathe through it and try to stay relaxed it'll help," Jensen said between kisses.

Jensen reached down grabbing a condom bringing it to his teeth to open when Jared plucked it out of his hand. "I know you always use a condom, so do I, but I want to feel you not that." Jared explained at Jensen's questioning look.

"Jared, it'll make it easier the first time. We don't have to use it the next time. I don't want to hurt you anymore than I have to."

"I don't care if it hurts a little more, I'm not going to break. I want to feel you moving inside me, I want to feel it when you fill me up," Jared pleaded, reaching up running a finger across Jensen's lips, feeling the light puffs of air on his fingertip.

"Okay, Jared, however you want," Jensen said, watching as Jared relaxed back on the blankets. He poured more lube in his hand, running it over his cock, making sure there was a thick coating, then he ran slick fingers across Jared's hole, adding to the lubricant already there.

Jensen pulled Jared forward pressing his legs back towards his chest. He lined his dick up with Jared's twitching hole, pushing forward until the head breached the first ring of muscles. He looked up at Jared's sharp intake of breath, but relaxed when Jared didn't seem to be in any pain. Jensen pushed forward slowly not wanting to go too fast, not only for Jared's sake, but to gain some control over himself as well.

"So tight, Jared. You feel so fucking good," Jensen gasped as he was fully sheathed in Jared's heat.

Jared couldn't even form a coherent thought much less push it out his mouth, all he could do was writhe and moan at the feeling of fullness. Jensen pulled back until only the head of his cock was still buried in Jared, pushing back in moaning at the tight heat surrounding him.

"Fuck Jensen, harder please!" Jared gasped as Jensen slammed back in hitting his prostate head on, ripping a scream from his throat. "Yea Jen, just like that, come on do it."

Jensen could do harder, he pounded into Jared until they were both shaking and Jensen was so close he could taste it. He wrapped his hand around Jared's cock keeping rhythm with his thrusts. Jared was mumbling incoherently, pushing down onto Jensen's cock and arching into his hand.

Jensen pulled his hand back so he could brace his hands over Jared's head using the position as leverage to thrust harder. Jared stiffened under him, and came, Jensen felt the warm explosion across his stomach and chest at the same time Jared's muscles clamped down around his cock sending him spiraling into his own orgasm. Jared growled as he felt Jensen come inside him, reaching up to drag him down into a scorching kiss, as Jensen rode out the aftershocks.

They lay still connected until they had caught their breaths, Jensen splayed across Jared's chest, Jared running his fingers up and down Jensen's back. Jared noticed that every time his fingers traveled down Jensen's back and came close to Jensen's waist his cock twitched inside him. His laugh rumbled up his chest, causing Jensen to look up at him through half lidded eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me?" Jared laughed again at Jensen's blush.

"Shut up," Jensen mumbled burying his head under Jared's chin.

"You have the weirdest erogenous zones, but I think it'll work for me and my evil plan," Jared laughed again, when Jensen looked up at him squinting.

Jensen lifted up so he could pull out, kissing Jared's wince away. He slid down to lay next to Jared with his head on Jared's chest.

"Tomorrow's my turn," Jared snickered when Jensen tried to hide the lurch his hips gave at the comment. Jared pulled him closer running a hand through Jensen's hair, both of them dropping off to sleep with smiles on their faces.


	11. Chapter 11

Late Day 6 and Day 7

 

*Rescue Team*

 

By the time the team finished going through both sections of the plane, made contact with base, and settled on a plan of action, the sun was starting to droop in the sky. Gideon opted to make camp and start fresh first thing in the morning since there was no sense in going another hour just to stop and set up. Everyone was tired, emotionally spent, and they could use the extra down time. They weren't going to do anyone any good if they dropped before they found the guys.

Chris knew Gideon was thinking that if the Jensen and Jared hadn't made it to a cabin before the storm did its worse, there wasn't a reason to hurry. If they were in a cabin, then an extra hour wouldn't change much of anything. It was still frustrating as hell not knowing if they were okay or not.

Gideon stopped by Tom's tent, knowing all the guys would be in it talking for another hour or two before turning in.

"Just got off the radio with base," Gideon said by way of greeting. "They expect the part they need for the plane to be flown in by tomorrow night, then it will take a few hours to get it put in. Hopes are, they should be in the air by early the next afternoon."

"And in the meantime, we head to the nearest cabin?" Steve asked.

"That's the plan. There are three in the area, roughly fifteen miles apart." Gideon said pulling a map from his coat pocket.

Everyone huddled around the map, squinting to see in the weak light of the lantern.

"There's one here, here and here." Gideon pointed to little dots on the map. "We'll start at the closest and work our way down, checking each one as we go."

Chad pinned Gideon with an intent stare, "What are the chances they found one of these?" He asked.

"You tell me. You know more of what they're capable of," Gideon responded, leaning back. It was a tact Gideon took with only a very few people, but he had a feeling that when they finished talking through the events that the guys would feel better than they would if he just offered bullshit reassurances.

"Jensen can navigate. He always does the maps when we go camping," Tom said, massaging his temples, where a class of rowdy kindergartners with tambourines had taken residence.

"As long as Jared is standing, he'll get them there by force of will if necessary," Mike said, handing Tom some aspirin and a bottle of water.

"Jensen watches the weather religiously especially when he flies, so he'd know about the storm," Steve put in.

"Yea but he wouldn't know it was coming in faster than expected," Chris' voice carried his worry.

"Oh but Jared's broken enough bones that they all should have been aching. He's always called it his early warning system," Chad grinned remembering the time they had gotten caught in a freak rainstorm storm and Jared pouting that his body had let him down. Jared's expression was like one you would normally have seen on a toddler who just had their cookie stolen by the dog.

"We still don't know how badly they were hurt. There was blood on both seats, so we have no idea how fast they could move," Chris stated everyone's concern.

"Seems to me, they had a lot going for them. They know how to read a map and they're strong. Even if they were injured, it obviously didn't stop them from leaving which, by the way, was actually the best decision. They wouldn't have made it staying in the plane. I know I've already mentioned that to you and Chris," Gideon said nodding at Steve, but he wanted Tom, Chad and Mike to know their friends had made the best choice.

"Jensen was aware of the weather, and you've all already told me where there's one, there's both, so they aren't in it alone." Gideon paused looking around at each of the five men. "Sometimes, it's hard to motivate yourself but when someone else is involved it can make you push that little bit harder, go that little bit longer."

Mike snorted, "Maybe we should explain just how stubborn they are. Jensen gets up when he's pulled his back out and is so stiff he can't hardly move just to show up on set to do his own stunts. Does he have to? NO, but that's how he is. Jared broke his wrist during a stunt. Did that stop him from doing God knows how many more takes before he gets it fixed? The answer again! NO. So if one says we need to go and the other listens then a full body cast wouldn't have stopped them. So again let me reiterate, we still don't know how badly injured they were," Mike finally wound down.

"We'll just have to have faith that they made it to one of the cabins. I'm going to be honest with you. If they didn't, there's only about a 15% chance, they made it through the storm without freezing to death," Gideon said as the other men nodded, not surprised by the information. Yep not dumb at all these guys. Gideon thought.

Steve and Chris moved to their tent not long after Gideon left. The confirmation from the team leader of what all of them already guessed, a weight on their hearts. Steve burrowed into Chris' side, burying his nose in Chris' neck. He hadn't been able to fall asleep. Every time he closed his eyes he would see the pilot's frozen body. The features would morph to Jensen or Jared's, eyes empty of life, skin pale beneath the blue highlights of frozen flesh.

The third time Steve jerked in his arms Chris leaned down and kissed the top of his head, "Stop," he said softly.

"I can't help it, every time I shut my eyes, I see them buried under a foot of snow," Steve's voice broke at the end of his confession.

"What did you tell me?" Chris kept one arm around Steve moving his hand to lift Steve's face, so he could see his eyes. "You told me to have faith didn't you."

"That was before the wonderful visual, we got today. I knew it was possible but today made it real. That could be them somewhere, waiting for us to find them, to take them home," Steve had to stop talking, the lump in his throat threatening to dissolve out his tear ducts.

"They are waiting for us to find them and take them home, but not like that. They're safe and warm, just waiting for the calvary." Chris leaned down, placing a gentle kiss at the corner of Steve's mouth. "And if they're not, we'll get some of that hoodoo, they use on that show of theirs and make them okay."

"Yea, because that always turns out so well on their show," Steve mumbled wrapping him even tighter around Chris' waist.

"It's going to be okay. They're going to be fine," Chris whispered into Steve's hair, *it has to be* his mind echoed.

**************************************************************************************************************************

*Jensen and Jared* 

 

Jared woke to sore muscles in places he never thought he'd have them, but that just made his smile even bigger. He looked down at the man cocooned in blankets, lying in his arms. Jensen's short hair was pointing in fifty different directions, and long sooty eyelashes rested against freckled cheeks. Jared brushed a hand lightly through Jensen's hair. He ran his fingers over Jensen's smooth forehead, devoid of the frown marks that creased it when he was concentrating, and along the corner of Jensen's eye tracing laugh lines that would appear when Jensen was happy. Jared brushed fingertips over the freckles he fully intended to count and recount along Jensen's cheeks and nose, smiling when his fingers disturbed the silky lashes, causing Jensen to snuffle and turn his face in tighter against Jared's chest.

Jensen was not a morning person at the best of times, and unfortunately, they had no real bed, bearable food and fake coffee (Jensen's words) Jared wasn't too sure he wanted to find out if sex tamed the savage beast, but he couldn't force himself to stop touching Jensen, so he decided to just take the risk. Jared didn't know what was more amazing, Jensen curled up warm against him, soft puffs of air ghosting across his chest, or that he could touch Jensen the way he had been, since he woke up.

Jensen shifted closer to the hard body he was pressed against, not really asleep but not awake yet either. He felt the light brush of fingertips across his face, the tickle of it making him shift his face further into the warm flesh under his cheek. Jensen's mind floated over the events of the last few days, skipping from the stunning revelation of Jared wanting him, something Jensen was still scared to believe, and ending with the incredible feel of being joined with Jared in the most intimate way possible.

Jared's hand was still stroking through Jensen's hair, the other across Jensen's shoulder and arm, sending a deep feeling of contentment and warmth shooting through Jensen that lodged in his heart. Jared's last words before they fell asleep filtered through Jensen's head causing a shiver to run the length of his body. Jared must have thought it was from the cold because Jensen felt the blankets being pulled higher to cover his chest and arm, the only things exposed to the chill of the air. 

Jared carefully slid out from under Jensen, grinning at the disgruntled sound that came from the mound of blankets. He leaned over and placed a kiss to the now furrowed brow, smoothing his hand across it until Jensen relaxed back into sleep. Jared hated having to move but the need to pee had finally overrode everything else. He pulled on his jeans and shirt. When he'd finished taking care of the necessities Jared pulled on his boots, coat and gloves and headed outside to get some more firewood.

The cold bit through the blankets, chasing Jensen out of sleep. He rolled onto his back and propped himself up on his elbows and looked around. Jared was nowhere in sight and the fire was only giving off a weak anorexic stream of heat. Jensen sat up pulling his clothes closer to him so he could get dressed. He needed to use the bathroom and find Jared, not necessarily in that order. He was just pulling on his shirt and buttoning it when the door banged open.

"I wish you would stop doing that," Jensen complained.

"Doing what?" Jared asked, as he dumped his armload of wood in front of the fireplace.

"Disappearing like that. It would take a lot less trips, and you wouldn't be out in the cold as long if you'd get me up so I could help you." Jensen fussed as he headed to the bathroom. 

Jared just shook his head, adding wood to the fire. He knew Jensen was right but there was just some deep seated need to protect and shelter Jensen. It wasn't something he could explain much less voice. It was just a need thrumming through his veins. He watched as Jensen crossed to the sink, running the rest of the water from the pot over them. Jared stood up and grabbed Jensen's coat and gloves waiting for Jensen to turn around.

Jensen finished in the bathroom and without looking at Jared went to wash up . He thought he understood Jared's need to make sure he was safe Jensen himself had the same need for Jared. That's why when he kept waking up and Jared wasn't there he would get a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. His head would start throbbing with the fear that something had happened, that his concussion was making him imagine what he wanted most in life and that Jared wasn't really here. Jensen knew it was an unrealistic fear but so were most fears, and he just couldn't seem to believe that Jared was here with him and wanted him the same way.

"Come on then, get your boots on and you can help me lug wood if it makes you happy Jenny," Jared said, using the hated nickname to lighten the mood. 

"I swear to God if you keep calling me that I'm going to show you how much of a girl I'm not," Jensen growled sitting down and lacing his boots up.

"Promises, promises," Jared sing songed. "Besides I do believe I told you it was my turn," Jared said, smirking at the flush that ran up the back of Jensen's neck and ears in reaction to his last sentence.

"Yea, well, I have a long memory, and you know how I feel about promises," Jensen grinned at the way Jared's pupils dilated. He brushed past Jared and grabbed the pot to get more snow while they were out.

Jared shook himself out of his trance and followed Jensen out the door, trying to will the instant hard on Jensen's statement had caused. Damn man was a fucking tease . Jared growled under his breath as he hefted more wood into his arm. His eyes wandered to Jensen squatting down in the snow, filling up the pot. The coat the was wearing hung so low that he couldn't even get a glimpse of Jensen's tight ass, fucking tease Jared growled again, putting the last log on his stack for this trip.

Jensen grinned listening to Jared mumble under his breath, he couldn't make out what he was saying, but he had seen Jared readjust himself and it made Jensen hot just knowing he had that much influence over Jared's body. He finished filling up the pot and set it by the door before he started loading up his arms with wood. Jared was already half way in the door with his load still mumbling. When Jared came back, he picked up the pot seeing that Jensen was almost finished loading up and took it in to put over the fire. He grabbed the second pot wanting to get as much as they could so that they wouldn't have to go out in the cold again later.

*********************************************************************************************************

*Rescue Team*

 

The team started out bright and early after a night of tossing and turning. Everyone knew that if Jesnsen and Jared hadn't made it to the safety of a cabin that this would turn from a rescue mission into a recovery mission. They trudged through the hours hoping they would find some sign of which way the guys had gone but knew that the likelihood wasn't great, not with the amount of new powder that had fallen. Their tracks would definitely be covered, and even if they had dug a pit to make a fire which was doubtful. Unless they happened to stumble in the hole, they would walk right past it.

Tom and Chad were teamed together, Mike had teamed with the medic, who's name he had found out was Shawn, and of course Chris wasn't having Steve teamed with anyone but him. They were all carrying on individual conversations, but each instinctively knew where the other was. It was a habit they had developed early on when they started going on camping trips together. It had saved each of their asses on more than one occasion.

Mike looked over at Shawn, trying to get a read on the guy before he started a conversation. Shawn was amused at the quick hit and run looks. He knew he was what most people termed as quiet and that seemed to make it a given that he needed to be made to talk. Shawn finally broke when Mike looked his way again then focused on where he was walking. 

"Go ahead and ask," Shawn said in an amused voice.

"What do you mean?" Mike asked, grinning the whole time.

"You know exactly what I mean. What do you want to know?" Shawn said as he stopped, realizing that he had done exactly what people always did to him, break the silence because it was driving them nuts.

"Well my first question was going to be what do you do when your not playing hero, but now I have to know if you do the silent thing because that's you, or if you want to see how long it takes to crack the person hanging with you?" Mike's grin getting even bigger as he kept walking so that Shawn had to jog a couple of steps to catch up.

Shawn snorted, "I don't try to do anything, it's not my fault that folks can't stand quiet."

"Oh yeah I'm going to be hanging with you the rest of the time. Me and Chad we talk so much we can't get a word in over the other if we tried, and I know you and Tom walked half the day yesterday not saying a thing, because he's all into the quiet thing too," Mike informed him, snickering when Shawn rolled his eyes.

"I'm not into the quiet thing, just if there's nothing to say no sense wasting my breath," Shawn informed him.

"Oh my God you're twins right, separated at birth! This is why I look like the crazy one in our friendship because I have to do the talking and acting out for the both of us," Mike complained.

Shawn choked on a laugh, "Maybe you should just do your own thing and not worry about filling in for Tom."

Mike cocked his head to the side, thinking about it for a minute. "Nah, what would be the fun in that?"

"That's what I thought," Shawn replied, trying hard not to laugh again, he knew it would only encourage Mike. "As for your original question, I work at one of the medical clinics. We take turns coming on the search and rescue teams."

"You an intern?" Mike asked because, really this kid couldn't be a doctor. He looked younger than Jared.

"No, I'm a doctor, and yes, I know I'm young, but I'm not that young," Shawn answered. "I finished school a couple years early. Seems I have brains as well as looks," he said grinning at Mike's look of disbelief.

"Couple of years my ass," Mike responded looking at Shawn again. "What were you twenty when you finished college?"

"No, I was nineteen actually, but then I still had medical school and my internship," Shawn explained.

"Oh and by the way, if you were my cup of tea, I'd have to say yea you got the looks too," Mike cackled at the blush crawling up Shawn's neck.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom looked up at Mike's insane laugh before glancing over at Steve who walked a few feet back.

"Should we rescue him?" Tom asked as he looked back at the medic and Mike.

"Nah, I think he can handle it," Steve said as he focused on the tree line that had come into view a little over ten minutes ago.

"We can just barely handle him, and we know him," Tom shot back. "I'm not so sure Shawn is Mike proof."

"I think Shawn's a lot tougher than he acts," Chris broke in. "I heard him going toe to toe with Gideon about something the other day."

"They were fighting?" Chad asked.

"No, more like disagreeing on a course of action, I wasn't really paying attention to what it was," Chris said, nodding his head at the back of the two men they had been discussing.

"Huh," Tom grunted. "I walked with him all day yesterday, and he didn't come across as very forceful. He didn't say much of anything, unless I asked him a question."

"Well Tom, you're not exactly overflowing with conversation on a normal bases either," Steve grinned at the glare Tom shot him.

Chad looked up at where Mike and Shawn seemed to be carrying on an animated conversation, "It doesn't look like he's shy to me."

Gideon cut off Tom's reply with a sharp whistle. They were about an hour away from the tree line and maybe an hour and a half away from the first cabin marked on the map. Everyone sat down, catching their breaths and relaxing sore tense muscles. Gideon told everyone that they would be moving out in thirty and to go ahead and snack on whatever they had within quick reach. They would make camp at the cabin when they reached it whether the guys were there or not.

When they started out again it was with the hope that they would soon be reunited with their friends. Gideon told them, that as soon as they made camp, he wanted to call in and see if that part for the helicopter had made it to the base camp yet.

The closer they got to the cabin, the quieter everyone became. Chris knew it wasn't looking good. There was no smoke pouring from the chimney, which would have been the case if the guys were there. So either they weren't at this one, or they hadn't been in any shape to start a fire, meaning the guys had made it to the cabin but no further. It took them two hours to make the tree line and the cabin. Gideon went first wanting to soften the blow if it was going to be a recovery. When he opened the door, he let out a sigh of relief.

Chad could tell by the relaxation in the set of Gideon's shoulders that they hadn't found bodies. It still meant the guys were out there somewhere, and there was still a chance they were alive. Gideon let them all know that Jensen and Jared were not there, and it looked like they never had been. They set up camp everyone just barely fitting in the cabin. Chris and Chad stacked wood while the rest of the team set about rolling out bags and getting food ready. Gideon made contact and learned that the part had indeed made it and they were working on getting it installed at that very moment.

************************************************************************************************************

*Jensen and Jared*

 

When they finished outside, they chose a couple of packages of mystery food and set about getting something to eat. Jensen settled on the floor, taking the weight off his ankle. While it was much better than it had been, it still wouldn't support him for long stretches of time without rest. He had no intention of letting it regress to the way was after the crash. He wouldn't be able to help Jared if that happened.

Jared watched as Jensen sat down, heaving an internal sigh of relief. He had seen the disguised winces but for once kept his mouth shut. There was only so much pushing he could do before Jensen shut him down completely, so when Jensen took the opportunity to rest his ankle without being asked, Jared was more than pleased. He busied himself with finishing up the meal and getting the snow melted down so they would have something to drink.

Jared left the rest of the water on the stove to heat so they would have warm water to wash with. Jared had been ecstatic that on top of the extra clothes Jensen had packed him in the duffle, his friend had included his toiletries as well. It was pure heaven just to be able to brush his teeth, and while he hated taking a bath when he was eight (his mama swore she used to have to chase him through the neighborhood) that was a long time ago, thank you very much.

Jensen watched Jared's movements as he finished getting their meal together. He wondered if anyone had ever truly watched the man move. Jared had an easy grace to everything he did. It had driven him crazy on more than one occasion. Jensen couldn't help think about what would happen when they finally made it back to civilization. He knew that he didn't want this to end. In all honesty, he didn't know if he would survive it if it did, and that scared the shit out of him. Jensen couldn't remember a time when he had this much of himself invested in anything. Sure his acting was important but if something happened, and he never acted again, he knew he'd manage, but to not have Jared? He felt like he was suffocating every time he even imagined it.

Jared knew when he was being watched. While he didn't get harassed on the street he could always feel when someone's eyes were following him. He could almost hear Jensen's brain tumbling over thoughts and worries. His friend never could just accept things, especially if it was something good. Jensen was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. If it was good news Jensen always wanted to know what the bad was or what was the catch. Jared hated that Jensen had been hurt and disappointed so many times in life that he thought something good came with a price.

Jensen scooted over as Jared sat down next to him, handing him his plate of food and, while the meal wasn't the best in the world, it was hot and filling. They didn't talk as they ate because there really wasn't a reason to. They were around each other so much that the silences were just as comfortable as everything else they shared together. Jensen stood up, taking the dishes from Jared and moving to the sink to clean up. Jensen was distracted by thoughts of how they were going to make this thing between them work, and it would work, this was not something he was going to give up, not without the fight.

Jared watched as Jensen cleaned up the dishes, the sun dipping low in the sky shown through the small window highlighting Jensen in a golden silhouette. Jared stood up and pulled the water off the fire, before moving in behind Jensen. Jensen tensed for just a second when Jared placed his hands on his shoulders but quickly relaxed into the touch, Jared ran his hands down Jensen's arms, leaning in to nuzzle at his neck.

"It's going to be okay Jen," Jared whispered into Jensen's ear. Jared wrapped his arms around Jensen's waist pulling him back against his body. Jensen placed his arms over the ones encircling his waist, leaning back into Jared's body.

"How do you even know what I'm thinking?" Jensen whispered. He had no idea why he was whispering, but it felt like if he spoke louder it would shatter the quiet contentment he felt wrapped in Jared's arms.

"Because I know you. I'm not going to change my mind, and I'm not going to leave you either. I don't need anything that you have, all I need is you." Jared said as he kissed a path down Jensen's neck.

"I know you're not using me Jay," Jensen murmured rolling his head to the side to give Jared better access, moaning as Jared's teeth scraped across the sensitive flesh between shoulder and neck.

Jared knew they still needed to talk about the other things going through Jensen's head but the need to wrap himself around Jensen was overriding everything else at the moment. Jared continued to drop open mouthed kisses along Jensen's neck, scraping his teeth along the same path. He licked over the light red marks his teeth left, enjoying the small gasps and whimpers escaping Jensen at the attention.

Jensen kept pressing back trying to get closer and even tried to turn around, but Jared was having none of it. Jensen felt Jared's arms tighten around his waist holding him in place, and seriously Jensen had never been attracted to aggressive people but with Jared it was just fucking hot. He couldn't stop the whimpers, and moans passing his lips if his life had depended on it.

Jared's lips slid up over the shell of Jensen's ear, nibbling at the fragile skin covered cartilage. Jensen was shaking in his arms already but Jared was nowhere near done with his play. He slid his tongue along the path his teeth had taken as he shifted one arm from around Jensen's waist, bringing it up so that he could cup Jensen's chin and angle his head for better access. His tongue followed the twisting maze on the inside of Jen's ear until it was slipping completely inside, laving the little hole moaning at the shudders he felt running up Jensen's body.

Jensen's ears had always been sensitive and the fact that Jared was paying such close attention to them was about to drive Jensen out of his skin. He couldn't stay still. His whole body was quaking at the sensation of Jared's tongue. Jared finally shifted his attention to the other side of Jensen's neck, giving him a chance to step back from the edge of orgasm that he was quickly approaching. Jensen groaned as Jared lavished the same attention on this side as he had on the other starting with the open mouth kisses, moving on to teeth and tongue. When Jared angled for Jensen's other ear and slid his tongue inside Jensen couldn't stop the orgasm that ripped through his body like a freight train.

"You know," Jared said in a conversational tone. "I'm going to enjoy finding all the places that drive you over the edge, and when I do," he said leaning in and nuzzling the back of Jensen's neck, "I'm going to pay special attention to each and every one." Jared swiped his tongue along the skin peeking out between shirt and hair, keeping his arm around Jensen's waist to keep him upright as another shudder rocked his body.

Jared took his free hand moving first one hand and then the other and placing them on the sink in front of Jensen.

"Hold on baby, I'm not finished, and I need both hands now," Jared smiled at the whimper he received in response.

Jared lifted the hem of Jensen's shirt, pulling it up and over his head letting it slid down to where Jensen's hands gripped the sink. Jared ran his hands along the smooth plane of Jensen's back, stroking over shoulder blades and down Jen's back watching the play of muscles shift as Jensen's body reacted to the touch.

Jensen gasped as Jared ran a finger under the waistband of his sweats, pleasure shooting up his spine. He heard Jared chuckle behind him, Jensen gritted his teeth trying to keep the next sound in.

Jared leaned back in close to his ear, "Don't be that way Jen, I want to hear what turns you on. Every time you moan, every time you whimper, all the places that make your knees weak."

Jared laid his head against the side of Jensen's listening to the labored breathing waiting for Jensen to comply. Jensen finally grunted releasing his lip from the grip his teeth had it in.

Jared pulled back, dropping kisses over Jensen's shoulder, over the nape of his neck and down the other side. He nibbled at the line of muscle, biting down at the sweet spot between neck and shoulder, smiling at the groan rattling out of Jensen's chest and the way Jensen's hips lurched forward. Jared worked his teeth side to side. Worrying the skin between them, he released his prize, running his tongue across the abused flesh, sucking it back in to darken the mark. Jared had a primal need to mark Jensen, to prove to himself and anyone else that saw him that he belonged to Jared.

It confused him. He had never felt the need to mark someone before. Sure, he had left hickeys in the heat of the moment and maybe even teeth marks, but he'd never consciously done it with the sole intention of claiming. But Jared wanted to mark every part of Jensen, he could. He wanted to be able to look at Jensen and know that whether anyone else could see it or not that he carried Jared's mark of ownership. Jensen made him feel a lot of things he had never felt before.

Jensen was shifting under the suction from Jared's mouth, mumbling words that Jared couldn't catch, Jared pulled his mouth away, tonguing over the dark purple and red bruise left behind. He kissed a path to the top of Jensen's spine, slowly licking and sucking a path down until he reached the waistband of Jensen's sweats. Jared reached around pulling them over Jensen's half hard cock before sliding them over the swell of Jensen's ass.

Jensen's head was hanging between his outstretched arms, body quivering with stimulation. He honestly didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to stand. His knees felt like jello and his ankle was starting to twinge, but he'd be damned if he was going to say anything especially when Jared pulled his sweats down leaving them pooled around his feet. Jared's breath washed across the base of his back just before Jensen felt the swipe of his tongue run across the same spot. Jensen's knees finally buckled when Jared's teeth scraped over the sensitive nerve endings.

Jared hadn't been prepared for Jensen to start folding. He got his hands up around Jensen's waist just in time to keep him from taking out his chin with the sink. Jared pulled him back up against his body, and walked them backwards until he hit the blankets. He lowered Jensen to the floor sliding down with him. Jensen kept his gaze averted, a blush creeping up his neck and into his cheeks. Jared reached up, gripping Jensen's chin and pulling until Jensen's head followed.

"Why didn't you tell me that would happen?" Jared asked, kissing over Jensen's forehead and nose.

"I didn't know it would," Jensen mumbled. "No one thats ever found it noticed what it did to me."

Jared took in the information, pissed as hell that whomever had been with Jensen hadn't paid attention to what his body's reaction had told them. How could anyone not see, feel, or hear how responsive Jensen was? Jared ran his finger over Jensen's nose and over his cheeks. He leaned over, running his tongue along Jensen's lips. When they parted Jared slid his tongue inside moaning as Jensen's tangled with his.

Jensen ran his hands under Jared's shirt, pushing up on it until Jared reached behind him and yanked it over his head. Jared shifted, licking along Jensen's jaw, tongue catching on scruff and tickling him as he made his way under Jensen's chin, along his throat. He stopped to suck on Jensen's Adams apple, loving the little moans that vibrated past his lips and out Jensen's. He ran his teeth along the mark he had left before moving to work his way further down.

Jensen hips came off the floor when Jared's mouth closed over a nipple, sucking and biting until it was pebbled and red. Jared moved over to the other nipple giving it the same attention working it until it was raw, Jensen's hips twitching every time he ran his tongue over it. Jensen was incoherent. Sensations rippled through him starting at the spot Jared's mouth was on his skin, and traveled straight to his cock. It didn't seem to matter that he had come not more than twenty minutes ago, his cock was throbbing, keeping time with the frantic beat of his heart.

"Jared please," Jensen begged as Jared moved lower tracing the fine hair running from his chest to his belly button nipping a path to his final destination. Jared lifted his head looking at Jensen. He didn't think he had ever seen anything more beautiful or more decadent. Jensen's eyes were dark with lust, pupils blown wide so that there was only a slim ring of green that could be seen. His lips were swollen and blood red from bruising kisses and worrying them between his teeth. There were dark purpling bruises sucked and bitten into his skin from his neck to his navel, and the red flush that had moved from his chest up his neck and over his cheeks caused his freckles to stand out, begging to be worshiped.

"I'll take care of you baby, I'll get you there," Jared's voice raw with lust and love.

He continued where he left off, huge hands splayed across Jensen's hip and stomach. He teethed around the edges of Jensen's navel, slipping his tongue inside to swirl around, teasing Jensen until he was sobbing out his pleas. Jared fucked his tongue into the little hole over and over again until Jensen was gasping for breath. Jared could feel Jensen's cock bumping against his throat and chin, but he wasn't finished mapping the body underneath him and until he was Jared was going to be one stubborn son of a bitch.

Jared ran his tongue along the crease of Jensen's leg, groaning when Jensen spread his legs wider giving Jared more room to explore. Jared moved, licking and biting down first one leg and then up the other, leaving bruises over an inner thigh, taking time to mirror the action on the other side. Jared pushed Jensen's legs up so that his feet were planted on the floor, he slid his hands under Jensen's ass, giving him enough room to run his tongue across hot flesh, sucking one of Jensen's balls into his mouth.

Jensen's body jolted off the floor and the undignified squeak that came out of his mouth would have been one, he denied if he had realized he'd done it in the first place. Jared released his new toy from his mouth and took the other in, giving it the same attention. His hand moved from under Jensen long enough to feel around the blankets, searching for the lube. When his hand finally closed around it, he hummed, Jensen felt the vibration all the way to the top of his head, which he thought was in danger of blowing off his shoulders.

Jared slicked his fingers up, never stopping the attention he was giving Jensen's balls. He slid a finger underneath, rubbing over the puckered flesh he found, feeling the twitches in that little hole answered in the pulse of Jensen's cock. Jared had kept his pants on through everything trying to keep some control over his own hard on but his dick was screaming at him that it had been neglected long enough. Jared pulled back long enough to shuck his pants, laying back down and running his finger over the slicked hole again and again, Jensen's hips lifted off the floor trying to get him closer to where he needed the friction.

Jared grasped the hard, hot line of Jensen's cock squeezing at the base as he pushed his finger and, twisted it around in the tight heat of Jensen's body. Jared licked a wide path up Jensen's cock, twisting his tongue around the head, and dipping the tip into the slit collecting the pooling precome. Jared had never given a blow job before in his life, but he had been on the receiving end of plenty and Jensen had given him one just yesterday. And if Jared was anything, he was a quick learner.

Jared continued working his finger in and out, licking over and around Jensen's cock, He pulled his finger out, pushing two back in, never stopping his attention to the cock he was licking like an ice cream cone. When he pushed three fingers in, he took Jensen into his mouth, sucking him as far down as he could. The taste wasn't what he had expected. He had tasted his own come on the mouths of the girls that had given him blow jobs before, but this was something different, something addictive. Jensen was sweet, with just a slight underlying bitterness.

Jensen would have come as soon as Jared slid his mouth around his cock if it hadn't been for the death grip that was wrapped around the base. Jared growled in the back of his throat, sending the vibrations skittering up his spine, spiking lust through his brain. Jensen didn't know how much more, he could take before his body went on overload, but he was damn sure gonna hold on to find out. When Jared took him all the way to the back of his throat his hands found their way into the messy locks of Jared's hair, squeezing and then releasing with the rhythm of Jared's suckling.

Jensen couldn't take anymore he wanted Jared inside him, needed him inside him. Jensen pulled until Jared raised his head, letting the cock he'd been sucking slowly slide from between his lips. Jared's fingers were still sliding in and out of Jensen's hole, scissoring and stretching, brushing across Jensen's prostate again and again, causing shivers to wrack Jensen's body.

"Jared I need you inside me now, don't want to come until you're inside me," Jensen gasped out between jabs to his prostate.

Jared smiled up at him eyes almost completely black. He leaned down giving one final swipe of his tongue over the slit of Jensen's cock, pulling his fingers out and leaning in to capture the moan that fell from Jensen's lips at the loss of Jared's fingers. Jared squeezed more lube into his hand coating his dick with the slick substance, gritting his teeth with each pass of his hand over his dick. Jared pulled Jensen forward until his ass was resting on his knees. He lifted one of Jensen's legs over his shoulder and pushed the other until it was almost against Jensen's chest.

Jensen didn't even realize the keening noise he heard was coming from him until Jared lined his dick up and slowly started to slide in. Jensen arched up off the floor, trying to hurry Jared along, but Jared wanted it slow, and he was going to get it just the way he wanted it. Jared continued his slow controlled slid into Jensen's clenching hole until his hips were stopped by Jensen's body. Jared leaned forward covering Jensen's lips with his, licking his way in, muffling the litany of curses flowing out of his mouth.

Jared leaned back, moving Jensen's leg off his shoulder sliding it around his waist, pulling back until only the head was still inside, he slid back in groaning at the tight, wet heat that engulfed his dick. He knew he wouldn't last long but he could tell from the thrashing that Jensen was doing, he wasn't going to last much longer either. Jared set a slow, steady rhythm, grinning at the filth that was falling from Jensen's mouth. He'd bet his paycheck that Jensen had no idea what he was saying.

Jared looked down at where their bodies were connected, watching the slow slide of his cock in and out, the puckered entrance dipping in and puffing out with each stroke. He was mesmerized and even more turned on watching his cock disappear into Jensen's body. He could have watched all day long but Jensen was begging for harder and his dick was agreeing whole heartedly. Jared wrapped Jensen's other leg around his waist and placed his hands on either side of Jensen's head.

Jensen leaned up, catching Jared's lips in a rough kiss, biting down on his lip until Jared started a punishing pace, slamming into Jensen over and over. Jared changed the angle of his thursts until he heard Jensen gasp, he knew that he had found the perfect spot. Jared's control finally snapped, and he fucked into Jensen again and again, each thrust harder than the last. Jared was so close that when Jensen spilled over his stomach and chest, Jared followed quickly behind, he kept his thrusts aimed at Jensen's prostate, fucking Jensen through his orgasm as well as his own.

When Jared pulled out he flopped down beside Jensen, waiting for his heart rate to slow and his breathing to return to normal. Five minutes later, he finally rolled over to look at Jensen, scared he had hurt him when he lost control. Jensen's eyes were closed, his breathing deep and even, Jared pulled him in closer, reaching down and grabbing the blankets to cover them up. He smiled as Jensen draped and arm across his chest and a leg over his. He was just wondering if he should wake Jensen up and make sure he was okay when he slipped into sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Day 8

*Rescue Team*

 

Chad was awake before the sun came up. He hadn't been able to sleep more than an hour at a time because he had tossed and turned thinking about Jared and Jensen. So far their average had been two for four in finding their friends. They had two more cabins to check, and then he was going to have to face the probability of life without his friend. Jared was one of those people that you just couldn't not like. It didn't matter how boring or stiff the environment was, when Jared would walk into a room, it changed, there was always an air of excitement that hovered around him.

Chad turned at the sound of the door opening behind him. Tom walked out and stood for a few minutes, finally dropping down beside Chad. They sat in silence, looking over the landscape of naked trees and white brittle plains.

"Couldn't sleep?" Tom asked.

"Nope, you?"

"No, can't seem to concentrate on anything bur my watch ticking," Tom said sighing.

"We aren't setting a land speed record of positives are we?" Chad flicked a piece of wood, he'd been pulling off the rail into the snow.

"I'd say it couldn't get worse, but we know it can, so I'm not even going there," Tom muttered reaching across Chad to peel a strip of wood off for himself.

Mike wandered out not long after, searching for them. He plopped down next to Tom and looked at the two matching glum expressions.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Mike asked

"Nope," Tom and Chad chimed in together.

"Jinx, you both owe me a beer," Mike crowed, grinning.

"You know I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I'd rather have a great big cup of hot chocolate when I get back." Chad paused, "Then a beer," he finished.

"I'd settle for a decent coffee," Tom sighed wistfully.

"Oh, shit," Mike yelped, looking appalled.

Chad jumped at the outburst, "What?" he asked.

"Jared's going to need therapy for trauma," Mike answered.

"Well yea, they probably both will, Jensen's not going to want to fly anytime soon, and neither one of them are going to get over seeing the pilot dead, I'm sure," Tom responded giving Mike a "duh" look.

"No, that's not what I meant," Mike said.

"Well what the hell are you talking about?" Chad asked confused.

"Jenny is going to be a bear," Mike explained grinning. "He doesn't have coffee."

"Oh shit," Tom agreed.

******************************************************************************************************

*Remote Location*

The entire production staff and crew had spent the last several days waiting for word on Jensen and Jared. Eric, Kim and Sera had discussed in length whether they should pull the plug and head back or to shoot around the boys' scenes, and have them do theirs later. By unspoken agreement no one said "if" the boys made it.

Eric was startled awake by the phone, and he took a deep breath before answering. Fifteen minutes later, he was knocking on Sera's door, Kim trailing behind him.

Sera opened the door, paling at the look on Eric's face. She looked behind him at Kim who just shrugged his shoulders. Sera stepped back letting them pass, shutting the door and taking a seat across from the two men. They waited for Eric to start, not wanting to rush him, afraid what he was going to tell them would forever change things.

"I've just gotten off the phone with the head man from search and rescue," Eric's shoulders slumped as he let out a heavy sigh. " They found the plane." 

"When?" Sera asked.

"Late day before last," Eric replied.

"Are they all right?" Kim asked.

Sera just sat and watched Eric's face. She knew it wasn't good news, just not how bad. She suddenly wanted to revert to her five year old self, shoving her fingers in her ears and sing songin I can't hear you over and over until Eric left, taking his horrible news with him.

"The plane split in half, they have pictures they're going to email me, said they've never seen anything like it before," Eric said, brow furrowed.

"Eric! Where the fuck are the boys?" Kim's patience finally spent.

"They don't know," Eric answered.

"What do you mean they don't know?" Sera asked, completely confused. "Were they ejected from the plane?"

"No, it looks like they left the plane on foot," Eric sighed again. "The pilot didn't make it, that's why it took so long for me to get the information. They had to contact his family and then let Jensen and Jared's know that they hadn't found them, yet so they wouldn't panic if word got out."

"Why in the hell would they leave the plane?" Kim scowled.

"According to the guy I spoke with, it was probably the right decision, as long as they knew where the cabins were," Eric explained.

"What're the chances of them knowing about the cabins?" Sera asked.

"The pilot kept a map with them marked. So long as the guys found it, which they think they did because they searched the cockpit and didn't find the pilot's duffle, so their chances are better than average," Eric answered.

"That was day before last right? So what about yesterday? What did they do yesterday?" Kim questioned, reaching over to turn Sera's laptop on.

"Ron, that's the guy I was talking to, said NTSB were on their way out to the plane today, The chopper is supposed to be up in the air right now continuing the search grids while the ground crews continue checking the cabins. They made it to one last night but Jensen and Jared weren't there." Eric stopped talking long enough to open up his email account. 

"How many cabins are there?" Sera reached across Eric to expand the screen.

"Three, but they take it as a good sign that the rescue team didn't run across them on the way." Eric clicked on the message he was looking for.

Kim pulled his chair up to get a better look at the screen. "So how did this guy get the pictures anyway?"

"Not sure, they must have some kind of uplink capacity," Eric clicked on the link for the photos.

Sera gasped as the first few frames popped up.

"Eric enlarge them if you can," Kim requested.

Eric did as asked and set it on slide show. He sat back in his chair watching frame after frame of shredded plane. They could see the back half of the plane, the torn section yawning open, facing them. About a hundred yards back was the front of the plane crumpled and listing to the side.

"My God, how can anybody live through something that looks like that?" Sera questioned.

"You see it all the time, people walking away from wrecks where their car looks like a tin can," Kim said.

Eric stopped the slides and pointed to the front section. "He lost a wing coming in. It's amazing the damn thing didn't flip," he stated as he restarted the slide show.

They all sat quietly through the rest of the pictures, each lost in their own thoughts. Sera shook her head when it started recycling the slides.

"Do they know how injured they were?" she asked.

"No, they found what they think were two notes. One the elements had obliterated, but the second one, they found with the pilot's body. It said they were going to try to make it to a cabin, but it didn't say if they were hurt or not." Eric shut the link off and leaned back in his seat again.

"But they were able to leave so they couldn't be in that bad a shape," Kim said, eye's still on the now blank screen. When he was met by silence, he glanced up, only to be met with two identical expressions of disbelief.

"What?" He asked.

"You know as well as we do, and actually you should know better than us, both of them are stubborn asses. How many times have they gotten hurt and kept working? They even ask for a retake when you're happy with it and they aren't," Sera finished exasperated.

"Oh, yea, see your point," Kim said sheepishly. "Well, damn."

"They did find blood in both sections of the plane," Eric continued, holding up his hand to stop the questions, so he could finish. "It wasn't a lot and, damn, you saw the plane. I'd have been more surprised if there hadn't been. Ron said it didn't look life threatening, more a nuisance injury, but of course until they find them that's just speculation even if it's educated speculation."

"Did he say how the families took the news?" Sera asked, trying to decide whether to touch base with them now or hold off. She had been contacting them every other day since the start of this disaster.

"No, he didn't have any idea. I'm sure they are relieved the boys made it, but not knowing where they are now has to be killing them," Eric sighed. "Remind me never to do another remote location shoot again," he mumbled, digging the heel of his hands into his tired eyes.

"There was no way you saw this coming, stop being a dope." Sera said. "I think I'll call Donna and Sherri in a couple of hours, see how they're doing.

Eric and Kim left Sera to get dressed and make her phone call. They finished filming the guest star shots and left the crew to start packing up the sets, getting ready to return home.

********************************************************************************************************************************************

*Jensen and Jared*

 

Jensen had crawled out from under the covers and Jared's arm and hour before. He sat the cooled water over the fire waiting for it to warm again so he could clean up. Once finished, he rummaged through the remaining food, looking for something that would grab his attention, unfortunately nothing did, so he settled for a handful of trail mix while he waited for Jared to wake up. Jensen decided to take inventory of their food when he lost interest in the trail mix. He estimated that they had about a week and a half's worth of food left if they ate three normal size meals a day. Problem was, it would take them at least a week to walk out if no one found them and that was on the low side, it'd probably take more like ten days. They would have to leave in three days if they were going to have any chance of making it.

Jensen slid down beside Jared, smiling when Jared snuffled into the blankets, shifting closer to Jensen in his sleep. Jensen softly ran his hand through Jared's hair, pushing it off his face only to have it slide right back where it had been when he completed the motion. Jensen always teased Jared about his hair, but he secretly loved it. He used to daydream about running his fingers through it, feeling the silky strands sliding between his fingers and over his knuckles to tickle his palms. The daydream was nothing compared to actually being able to do it. Jared's hair was just as soft as it looked, and it always smelled cool and crisp like fresh air after a cleansing rain. Jensen would catch that scent even through all the hair products they layered on to make Jared into Sam and it never failed to make his pulse speed up and his heart skip a beat.

Jared sighed in is sleep, leaning into the hand petting his hair, seeking more contact. Jensen ran his hand through Jared's hair one more time, watching the strands slip through before gently falling across Jared's eyes again. Jensen ran his finger along the line of Jared's jaw, morning stubble tickling as he continued to trace paths along the skin. He ran his thumb over Jared's bottom lip, biting into his own to keep from moaning, when Jared's tongue flicked out to lick across his lip, catching the tip of Jensen's thumb on it's journey.

Jensen leaned down and ran his tongue along the same path his thumb had just taken. As Jared started to wake, Jensen deepened the kiss, licking into Jared's mouth. Jared raised his arms one encircling Jensen's waist, drawing him closer while the other found a home at the nape of Jensen's neck, angling his head, to keep Jensen where he wanted him. Jensen lost his balance when Jared pulled him even further into the kiss.

Jared moaned at the feel of Jensen's body pressed against his, Jensen's mouth on his, tongues tangling together, breathing in the other. Jensen pulled back so he could see Jared's face.

"Jay?"

Jared angled his head, so he could get a better look at the expression on Jensen's face, the tone in which Jensen has said his name both questioning and tentative.

"Yea, Jen."

"Would you mind,.." Jensen stopped, not really knowing how to voice what he wanted. Making love sounded so sappy, and while he loved Jared, it scared the shit out of him and wasn't something he felt he could verbalize the way he wanted to.

"Mind what?" Jared asked, pulling Jensen's head back down, so he could steal another kiss.

"I want to do something for you." Jensen ducked his head. He didn't think he had ever felt this far out of his depth before.

"Yea, Jen, anything you want," Jared said, realizing what Jensen was trying to ask him.

Jensen let out a whoosh of air, trying to figure out how to make Jared understand without having to make himself look like a complete idiot. Jared just smiled up at him, settling further into the blankets, relaxing under the warmth and weight of Jensen's body.

Jensen leaned in to place a kiss on Jared's forehead, running his hand through Jared's hair, lifting it away to leave feather soft kisses at each temple. Jensen moved down, leaving open mouth kisses interspersed with light nibbles along Jared's jaw, finally sliding his lips over Jared's. Jensen licked along Jared's lips unitl they parted, allowing him access to hot, wet, heat. Jared whimpered as his cock rubbed against Jensen's thigh. Jensen smiled into Jared's mouth, sliding his body along Jared's just to hear the little noises coming from Jared's mouth.

Jared turned his head as Jensen nipped a path down his neck, lingering at the base to suck marks of ownership into soft, tanned flesh. Jensen's hands mapped a path down Jared's chest, stopping to roll each pebbled nipple between his fingers. Jared arched his back, trying to get closer to the dual sensations of Jensen's mouth on his neck sending shivers up his spine and fingers pinching and plucking at sensitive nipples just this side of painful. Jared moaned deep in his throat as Jensen's mouth followed the same path his hands had gone.

Jensen rolled his tongue around Jared's nipples, flicking his tongue across the hard nubs, savoring the gasps spilling from Jared's mouth as he sucked each one into his mouth and caught them be his teeth, biting down just enough to hear Jared whimper and beg Jensen for more. Jensen was more than happy to give Jared everything he wanted, but in his own time. Jared was shifting restlessly beneath him, trying to set a rhythm, grinding his cock into Jensen's thigh, Jensen wanted to show Jared how much this meant to him, and he didn't want it to be over in the next ten minutes.

A whine escaped Jared's lips when Jensen reached out, grabbing his hip in a bruising grip to still the motion.

"I'm not going to last if you keep that up Jay. Let me show you please. I'll make it good, I swear," Jensen implored.

Jared just nodded, not able to form words past the lust fogging his brain. He watched as Jensen slid further down his body, trusting Jensen to take care of him.

Jensen licked his way from Jared's nipples along the fine trail of hair, leaving strategically place bite marks that he revisited over and over with his tongue. Jensen circled around Jared's belly button, nipping along the edges and sucking red marks around it before dipping his tongue in and lapping at the sweat that had started to bead over Jared's skin. Each time Jensen flicked his tongue into that little hole, Jared's hips would lift off the floor, Jensen didn't think he'd ever get tired of seeing Jared laid out under him, eyes dilated, lips swollen and red, head thrown back in pleasure.

Jared gasped as he felt Jensen's breath ghosting across the head of his cock right before wet heat engulfed him. Jensen looked up to see Jared watching him through half lidded eyes, lip caught between his teeth. Jensen pulled off, licking down the length of rigid flesh nuzzling into the crisp curls adorning the base of Jared's cock. Jared sucked in a breath as Jensen moved lower to mouth over his balls, taking one in and sucking before letting it slide out, leaving a glistening trail across Jensen's lips and chin, only to suck the other in giving it the same attention.

Jensen slid back up, circling the base of Jared's cock with his tongue and then his fingers, lightly scraping his teeth up the shaft. He ran his tongue around the head, pressing against sensitive nerves, dipping the tip into the slit to collect the precome. Jensen popped the lid of the lube, squeezing some onto his fingers, waiting for it to warm before sliding his hand behind Jared's balls, rubbing over the puckered entrance. Jensen slid his mouth back down over Jared's cock, watching as Jared's eyes rolled back in his head. He pushed one slick finger into tight satiny heat, Jared's body relaxing as he fucked his finger in and out, a second joining a few minutes later.

Jared was thrashing and begging but Jensen refused to be rushed as he added a third finger, working Jared open. Jensen was lost in the hypnotic thrusting of his fingers into Jared's body as he continued the dual assaults. He loved the feel of Jared's body shaking under his and tasting Jared's cock leaking a steady stream of precome onto his tongue was almost enough to send him over the edge himself. Jensen crooked his finger, trying to find just the right spot, knowing he had accomplished his goal when Jared jolted and thrust his hips up. If Jensen hadn't been prepared for it, he would have choked, he angled his head and let Jared slid into his throat, swallowing convulsively around him until Jared came, screaming Jensen's name and shuddering in ecstasy.

Jensen pulled his fingers out and Jared moaned at the loss. Jensen quickly slicked himself up, but instead of pushing in like Jared expected, Jensen leaned up kissing Jared with slow gentle intent, tongues twisting together, tasting and taking. Jensen lifted Jared's legs, pushing back, spreading Jared open for his eyes and his cock, he ran a soothing hand along each leg starting with Jared's ankle and all the way up to his thigh and back down again until Jared was begging to be filled. Jensen pulled back, lining himself up with Jared's still quivering hole as aftershocks still shook him from his orgasm. Jensen slowly pushed in, a controlled glide all the way in until his balls were pressed against Jared's ass, he squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath, trying to regain control.

Jared grabbed Jensen's arms, digging in blunt fingernails and pushing his hips up, trying to get Jensen to move. Jensen growled low in his throat, leaning in to attack Jared's mouth, dropping his weight down on top of Jared to still his movements. When Jensen finally broke the kiss they were both panting, Jared buried his face in Jensen's neck breathing deep and whimpering his need. Jensen finally regained enough control over his body to start shifting his hips, slowly at first, just in and out, eventually adding a slow roll that brushed across Jared's prostate. Jared's moans escalated to a keening whine that had no beginning and no ending, only need.

Jensen continued the slow rhythm, the tension in both their bodies building to an almost unbearable level. Jared's erection was trapped between them, the friction of sweat slicked skin rubbing him in all the right ways but not enough to give him relief. Jared's hands traveled over Jensen's back, sliding lower and cupping the round swells of flesh, massaging and scratching, needing the contact, needing Jensen to lose control, before Jensen drove him out of his mind. Jared's fingers ran through rivulets of sweat collecting them over the pads of his fingertips, running them along the valley of Jensen's ass, dipping in and rubbing across his entrance, causing Jensen to gasp and slam home giving Jared what he wanted.

Jensen's control was quickly slipping away, the feel of Jared's fingers rubbing across his hole breaking the iron restraint he had used so far. Jensen moaned as Jared pushed the tip of his finger past the tight ring of muscles, earning another brutal thrust that Jared arched his back to meet. Jensen's pace doubled, his iron restrain faltering as he plunged into the tight wet heat engulfing him. He felt Jared shift to the side, trying to find a better angle, Jared slide another finger inside Jensen, pushing in deeper and twisting until he found the sensitive nub nestled there, he rubbed across it again and again until Jensen thought he would loose his mind.

Jensen broke. He set a punishing sprint, racing toward his orgasm, each thrust slamming into Jared's prostate. Jensen's whole body was quivering with sensation, his brain shorting out at the spikes of pleasure pain running up his spine, but he wanted, no needed, Jared to come first. Just as he was shifting so he could free a hand to palm Jared's cock, Jared stiffened, howling out his release as he came in white hot pulses across their stomachs and chest. Jensen clenched his teeth, refusing to be pulled over the edge until Jared was completely spent. When Jared's body relaxed under his, he let go, his orgasm almost painful in its intensity as his cock pumped stream after stream deep inside Jared's body.

Jensen collapsed, landing heavily against Jared's chest, Jared just wrapped his arms around Jensen, snuggling their bodies together. Jensen lifted a hand, pushing Jared's hair back and brushing a kiss across Jared's sweaty forehead. He shifted just enough that his spent cock could slide from Jared's body, and he could tuck his head under Jared's chin. Jensen breathed in the scent of sex and Jared, nuzzling his chest, and placing a kiss over Jared's heart, he breathed three words he had never told anyone other than his family.

"I love you."

Jensen thought Jared was asleep, and honestly he pretty much was, but Jared heard the softly spoken words all the same. His mind formed the words to tell Jensen that he loved him too but they never made it to his mouth, his body shut down and hurtled, him into sleep.

********************************************************************************************************

*Rescue Team*

 

They started their day around nine. Everyone grabbed the extra sleep, needing to replenish badly drained energy reserves. They kept the same partners from the day before. Chris and Steve walked ahead to catch up with Gideon. They had been talking with each other for about an hour, and they needed some questions answered.

"Hey, Gideon. Wait up." Chris called.

Gideon turned, "Yea, everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, we just needed to ask you a couple of things," Steve said as they came even with him.

"What's up?"

"How are we going to get the guys out of here when we find them?" Chris asked.

"If no one's hurt or it's something Shawn can deal with and not endanger their well being, then I'll call for a helicopter transport, so we can pull everyone out. If they need immediate medical attention then I'll call for a Medivac for them and a transport to pick us up after." Gideon responded

"What happens if it's too late? I won't leave them like we had to do to the pilot." Chris stated emphatically if not grimly.

Steve reached over and squeezed Chris' shoulder in silent support. Gideon watched the silent conversation taking place in front of him. He was always amazed when he ran across the rare couples or friends that seemed to be able to read each other's body language, and sometimes it even felt like their minds. Gideon had worked with a few people that seemed to be able to read what he was going to ask for or the way he was leaning on a mission, Shawn being one of them, but that was from working with someone for any real period of time and in life and death situations. No, this was something different, this was a bond born of mutual respect, love and sharing ones life. Gideon shook his head still trying to fathom what it would feel like to have that with another human being. Steve caught the motion out of the corner of his eye.

"What?" Steve questioned.

"Nothing, I just don't understand how people can do that," Gideon said.

"Understand people doing what?" Chris quirked a brow, waiting for Gideon to answer.

"Have conversations, come to an agreement, and start on a course of action and never say a freaking word," Gideon said smiling. 

Chris snorted, "That my friend comes from to many years together." He barely managed to duck the hand Steve was aiming at the back of his head.

"You think we're bad, Jensen and Jared are worse and not only are they not a couple, but they've only known each other going on three years. Those two are fucking scary sometimes," Steve replied.

"Well I hope to see this phenomena in person at some point today," Gideon said grinning as he picked up his pace, leaving Chris and Steve to bicker.

"You know if they ever do get together, we'll never know what they're talking about, since all it takes is Jensen's eyebrows hitting his hair line and Jared's puppy dog eyes for them to communicate," Chris sighed.

"Yea, but what are the chances of that, even with Jared not dating Sandy any more. Have you ever seen anything to make you think Jared leans our way?" Steve asked.

"No but stranger things have happened right? Like for example you love me. I still have no idea why. I'm cranky, jealous and all around pain in the ass," Chris drawled.

Steve grinned, "Yes but you're my cranky, jealous pain in the ass and you're right. I love you. Whether you want to believe it or not, you're really a great big softie who goes out of his way to do things that you know make me happy. And the most important thing," Steve said as he leaned over, whispering in Chris' ear, " You love me just as much."

"Yea, yea I do." Chris stole a quick kiss.

"Oh and hanging around with those two, I have learned to decipher some of their silent language. The Jensen eyebrow raise means 'What the fuck, no way' and Jared's puppy dog eyes mean 'You know you're going to cave and give me what I want so stop fighting it' " Steve explained.

"Do you think we should start a translation handbook for all those out of the loop?" Chris grinned.

"Nope, let them learn the hard way like, I did."

"That's not very sharing of you. I hope you intend to share with me," Chris whined.

"Oh I intend to share all kinds of things with you, especially when we get home, alone," Steve grinned wickedly.

Chris' only response was a deep groan and a shiver running up his back that was visible only if someone were looking close enough.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chad had been mulling over the look that Chris and Steve shared when he mentioned that Jared was no longer seeing Sandy. He wasn't totally sure who'd done the leaving, but he'd put money on it being Jared. His friend had been thinking over something deep in the last several months and keeping those thoughts to himself, something Chad would've said was impossible a few weeks ago. Jared acted like a great big dope, but the boy wasn't dumb by any stretch of the imagination, a little naive sometimes but not dumb.

They'd been walking a good three hours, Chad having teamed with Tom again, when Chad decided to ask Tom if he knew what was going on. Chad wasn't sure if Tom would know but since the man rarely talked, unless of course you got him hammered, Chad figured that gave him plenty of time to listen and learn some of the secrets to the Kingdom of Jensen.

"So what's up with your boy?" Chad asked.

"Which one?" Tom questioned, slowing down just a little.

"Jensen."

"What about him?"

"Why's everybody want to know if he knew about Jared and Sandy's breakup?" Chad asked, watching Tom's face for any sign of how that question was going to be taken. He didn't have to wait long Tom's brows pulled together in a frown, his lips thinned, and it looked like he might be chewing on the inside of his cheek.

"You might as well tell me, I'm gonna find out one way or another. At least this way, I don't have to be the douche and embarrass anyone," Chad grinned.

Tom looked straight ahead for a couple of minutes, Chad saw when he made his decision. Tom took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I'm going to tell you what I think. Just remember, nobody's come right out and told me anything, but I listen a lot." Tom smiled, "and I pay attention to what's not being said too."

"Yeah man, I understand I'm not going to freak, this is me we're talking about," Chad reminded, there wasn't much that could send him into a tailspin.

"You know Jensen's gay right?" Tom waited until Chad nodded his head yes. "Well, have you noticed when we hang out he never leaves with anybody?"

"No, but now that you mention it, I can't say I've seen him leave with anyone in months," Chad mused.

It took a couple of minutes, and then it clicked. Tom would have thought Chad's pole axed expression was funny any other time, but right now he just worried how Chad was going to deal with this new information.

"Oh. My. God. Jensen has a thing for Jared," Chad gasped out.

"No," Tom corrected. "Jensen has more than a thing for Jared. I'm pretty sure Jensen's in love with him. I just don't think Jensen is aware of that yet."

"Well if Jensen's not aware of it, I'm assuming neither is Jared," Chad said, rubbing his forehead at the impending disaster he was foreseeing.

"No, I'm sure he has no idea, I wouldn't know if it weren't for the fact that Chris talks just a little too much when he's drunk, and I like to sit back and people watch," Tom explained.

"So what, Jensen's never said anything? Not to anyone?" Chad questioned.

"Nope, not even Chris. Everything Chris and Steve know they found out when Jensen was on some heavy duty pain killers after one two many throws into a wall during filming," Tom said.

"Where was Jared? I know for a fact he wouldn't have left Jensen doped up and hurt. The boy can't stand not to be there when somebody's sick much less hurt. I swear he thinks he's Florence Nightingale or Clara Barton. Drives me nuts every time I get the flu." Chad shook his head, "The last time he made me homemade chicken soup. Don't get me wrong the soup was awesome but the clean up. Kill me now. I didn't even know I had that many dishes in my house."

Tom snorted, imaging the kitchen after a Jared hurricane.

"Jensen didn't tell anybody, Jared had already left for the day and Jensen knew he was going to be flying back to LA to see Sandy. Chris and Steve showed up unannounced. When they couldn't get Jensen to open the door and his car was in the drive, they called him on his cell. Took Chris about two seconds to kick the back door in. Steve was pissed cause he had to fix it." 

"Why didn't Jensen open the door? How bad was he hurt?"

"Dislocated shoulder that the doctor popped back in before he left the set, pulled muscles across his lower back and two broken ribs. He couldn't get out of the bed, even if he hadn't been doped to hell and back." Tom scowled, remembering the phone call from Steve asking if he and Mike would come over and watch Jensen while they played the gig they were there to do. Chris hadn't wanted to leave but Steve told him Jensen would feel like shit if they missed it. Having me and Mike there had been the only thing to move Chris to the shower and out the door.

"Still, if it was just a weekend, how come Jared still doesn't know about it, because believe you me, if he did I'd have already heard about it, in detail," Chad asked, knowing that Jared would have been on the phone bitching about hardheaded friends who didn't know how to take care of themselves 

"Jensen begged Eric not to tell him when he called and told Jared they wouldn't be filming for another week. Eric told him they were having problems with the set, and they were trying to head off a problem with copyrights." Tom grinned. "I'm surprised Jared didn't call bullshit, Eric can't lie for shit."

"So all this time Jensen hasn't told a soul, just buried it away somewhere. Does he even suspect Chris and Steve know?"

"I don't know. If he does he avoids the topic like the plague. I've seen him go to the store at three in the morning when Chris wanted him to talk and Jensen wants no part of it."

"Well fuck, that's gotta suck, especially if he is in love with Jared. Man, I don't even know if Jared's ever thought of guys that way." Chad's face scrunched up as he tried to remember anything that would enlighten him.

"That's one of the reasons Jensen's kept his feelings to himself. He doesn't want to lose Jared's friendship because of how he feels."

"I still say it sucks, I don't think Jared would stop being his friend if he didn't feel the same way. Jared just doesn't have it in him to stop being friends with people unless it's something drastic and I don't think this would fall in Jared's drastic apocalyptic can't be friends category."

"For the record, I don't either but Jensen's not willing to take the risk, I think it's hard for Jensen to trust, and once he does, it's even harder to get him to do anything he sees as threat against that trust." Tom sighed running his hand through his hair. They both fell silent, deep in their own thoughts.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several hours later they could see the second cabin, they could also see, like the first, that there was no smoke coming from the chimney. Everyone clustered together as Gideon checked it out, waiting for word on whether it was empty or not. It only took a few minutes and Gideon was back outside. It was obvious that, while he hadn't found anything bad, he hadn't found anything good.

"No one's there and hasn't been, just like the first one." Gideon answered the unspoken question on everyone's face. "We're going to bunk down here tonight and hit the next cabin tomorrow."

Steve cornered Gideon an hour later after everyone was settled, fire blazing and supper well on it's way to being cooked. Steve found him standing outside, hands shoved deep in his pockets staring out over the darkened landscape. Moonlight glinted off the pristine snow reflecting it's light back into the sky. It would have been breathtaking if Steve hadn't been worried about his friends freezing to death out there in it.

"Everything okay?" Gideon asked sensing someone behind him.

"No," Steve sighed, "If we don't find them tomorrow, I'm afraid nothing's ever going to be okay again."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I was really hoping they would be here." Gideon replied.

"What happens if they're not at the last cabin?" Steve asked quietly.

"The helicopter went back to its search grid. So far it's hasn't found anything. If they're not there tomorrow, it's up to base camp whether we continue or they pull us in. They could pick us up and set another team down where we left off, or they could call off the search altogether. Good thing is, these guys are known, not just run of the mill missing civilians, not that it makes a damn to me if they're famous or not, but we stand a better chance of keeping the search going because of it. I'll take what I can get." Gideon rocked back on his heels looking up at Steve for the first time.

"Let us know if anything changes?" Steve asked as he turned to head back inside. He wasn't surprised to see Chris standing quietly by the door, and didn't even have to ask if Chris heard the conversation. Chris opened his arms and Steve walked into them, needing the contact Chris was offering. They stayed that way until the cold seeped through their layers of clothes, driving them back into the warmth of the cabin.

Gideon stayed where he was until he heard the door shut, only then looking to stare one more time into the night offering up a silent prayer for Jensen and Jared's safe return.

*************************************************************************************************************

*Jensen and Jared*

 

Jared woke to the memory of Jensen's softly spoken words. He stretched and reached out, his hand searching for Jensen's warm body. When he only encountered cool blankets his eyes popped open searching the cabin. He finally spotted Jensen sitting on the cot, going through the duffel bags. Pulling himself up so that he had a better view, Jared watched for a few minutes, perplexed by what Jensen was doing. Jensen had pulled everything out of his and the pilot's duffels, he'd folded everything neatly, and looked to be taking down an inventory.

"What are you doing?" Jared asked, voice was gruff from sleep.

Jensen jumped at the sound, not realizing that Jared was awake. He hadn't slept after Jared drifted off, and instead he had lain awake listening to the steady beat of Jared's heart, feeling the soft breaths stir his hair and enjoying Jared's warm body beneath his. Eventually, the self -doubt and recriminations had come, Jensen had never told anyone that he loved them, it was a vow he had made to himself that he would only say those three words when he truly meant them, not as a way to get something he wanted or as a cajoling method. When he said them, he wanted them to be special and untainted, and in his twenty eight years he'd only said them to less than two dozen people everyone, of them being his family except Chris and Steve.

He didn't regret saying, he loved Jared. But Jensen didn't delude himself, he knew Jared didn't love him. Sure Jared cared for him maybe even more than as a best friend, but he wasn't going to let himself get caught up in his own daydreams and wishful thinking. Jensen didn't lie to himself, he knew that part of the reason he'd waited until Jared went to sleep was fear, and he didn't know if he could live through Jared rejecting him. But the most important factor was not wanting to put Jared in a situation where he felt uncomfortable and obligated to do something he didn't want to or be someone he wasn't.

"Damn, Jared some warning next time. You gave me a heart attack," Jensen said but there was no heat in the words.

"What are you doing over there?"

"Getting an idea how we are holding up as far as supplies are concerned, Jensen said, not looking up from what he was doing.

Jared could tell something was wrong, he just couldn't figure out what it was. He knew without a shadow of a doubt how Jensen felt about him, he'd known before Jensen told him. Nope, this was a more subtle shift, something not identifiable quite yet. Jared was pissed at himself for missing the opportunity to tell Jensen how felt. He still couldn't believe he fell asleep after Jensen's confession. He had lost the moment, and he couldn't just blurt it out now. He'd have to wait for the right time.

"Why are you taking inventory?" Jared asked as he pulled his sweats on.

"Because if they don't find us by tomorrow, we're going to need to leave the next day if we stand a chance of walking out," Jensen said.

Jared moved over to the cot that Jensen was perched on. He cupped Jensen's chin in his hand and tilted Jensen's face up as he bent down, Jensen's lips were warm against his, parting willingly to allow him access. Jared ran his tongue along Jensen's lips, and over his teeth, savoring the taste and getting lost in the kiss. When he pulled back, they were both breathing hard and there was a light blush staining Jensen's cheeks.

"So why are we walking out again?" Jared asked.

"If we don't, there's a chance we could starve to death waiting for someone to find us. If we leave day after tomorrow, it gives us about eight days worth of food." Jensen explained going back to setting things in piles.

"How long do you think it will take us and are we taking the sled?" Jared could see pros and cons to the sled, he just couldn't decide which outweighed the other.

"The sled will slow us down, but if I can't hang carrying supplies, then we may need it, so I can keep walking," Jensen ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He hated being the weak link in the chain. 

"Well then we'll take it. Maybe I can streamline it some so it's not so bulky, and I can maneuver it better. I'll go look at it in a few minutes and see what I can do."

They spent the afternoon deciding what items to take and which ones to leave behind. Jensen gathered firewood and snow while Jared worked on the sled, by the time they were finished it was early evening and the sun was dipping below the horizon. Jensen fixed them a couple of packaged meals while Jared finished making changes to the sled, he finally had to go to the door and call him in before he froze.

Jared cleaned up and slid down next to Jensen on the blankets. They ate their food in silence, watching the flames dance around the wood, cracking and sparking. Jensen put away the dishes and rejoined Jared in front of the fire. 

"You know I'm going to miss this place," Jared murmured almost asleep.

"It's almost like one of our camping trips with the guys," Jensen agreed.

"Almost, better food when we pack it though," Jared yawned, snuggling deeper into the blankets and pulling Jensen across his chest.

Jensen buried his face in Jared's neck, breathing in the scent of his lover. He knew he wouldn't have many more days and nights like this, and he intended to imprint everyone in his brain and on his body. Sleep reached out and claimed him, his body relaxing into the heat of Jared's, the fleeting thought of right and home following him into the dark.


	13. Chapter 13

Day Nine

*Rescue Team*

 

Day nine of hell broke overcast and dreary much like the spirits of the five friends huddled together, waiting for the sign to move out. Gideon stood watching them, taking in their body language it wasn't difficult to read the overlying mood.

Mike was shifting from foot to foot unable to stay still. Chad was staring off into space, trying to keep his mind blank. If it was empty, he wouldn't see his friend in horrible situations while he was unable to help him. Tom was rechecking his pack, expression grim. He hadn't said more than five words that morning, not that, that was particularly unusual, but the quiet he was exuding was anything but tranquil. Steve was leaning back into Chris with his eyes closed. Chris' arms were wrapped around his waist, his chin resting on Steve's shoulder. Gideon could tell Chris was talking to him from the slight shakes of Steve's head.

Shawn walked up beside Gideon his attention also drawn to the cluster of men.

"They've done good," Shawn said, dragging Gideon out of his thoughts.

"Yeah they have," Gideon agreed.

"How do you think they'll do if we don't find them today?"

"Depends on if we find anything at all I guess. If there's a sign that they've been at the cabin, then there's still hope," Gideon stopped glancing at Shawn.

"And if we don't find anything?"

"I think we're going to see five very strong men break, and I for one, hope I don't have to see that ever," Gideon said, brows knitted in a frown.

"You know I've been paired with Mike the last couple of days. The man never stops talking," Shawn said grinning.

"I noticed, but you seemed to be holding your own. I happen to know you're not as quiet as you want everyone to think you are." Gideon smirked when Shawn rolled his eyes.

"My point was, it's almost like I know them because I've heard so damn much about them. I know what kinds of music they listen to, what foods they hate, all the shows they've acted on. I know Jensen is quiet and Jared never is." Shawn paused, "The thing is I don't know if I'm gonna handle it so well if we don't find them in semi decent shape." Shawn finished, running his hand through his hair, "And I've never even met them.

"I have a feeling they're going to be just fine," Gideon said quietly.

"Is this your famous gut speaking?" Shawn asked smiling.

"Hey do not mock what you do not understand," Gideon retorted grinning. "Just because you were ten when you graduated doesn't mean you know everything."

Shawn scowled at the age reference, "I was not ten, you ass."

Gideon just laughed and dodged the hit Shawn sent his way.

Still grinning Gideon made the call to move out. He refused to believe that the day would be anything but good no matter what it looked like outside.

******************************************************************************************************************************

*Jensen and Jared*

 

Jensen dragged himself towards consciousness, slowly stretching, working out stiff muscles not accustomed to sleeping on hard surfaces for extended periods of time. He knew Jared wasn't beside him before he even opened his eyes. When they finally made it home it was something Jensen was afraid he was going to have to become intimately familiar with, the lonely ache of Jared not being beside him. A grin worked its way past the melancholy at the dull thud and muffled curses coming from outside the door, serves him right for not waiting Jensen mused to himself. The door pushed open carefully, squeaking softly on its hinges as Jared tried not to wake Jensen. Jensen watched as he slid in the door squatting down to deposit the arm load of wood.

"So where did you go? More to the point, why didn't you wait for me? Jensen asked.

"You were sleeping, and I was restless. We needed more wood, so I killed two birds with one stone," Jared said, offering Jensen a lopsided smile that showed off his dimples.

Jensen knew Jared fought dirty, and damn it, he had yet to build a defense against it. When Jensen looked at Jared with those dimples peeking out, sheepish grin spread across his face, cheeks rosy from the cold all Jensen wanted to do was pull him under the covers and stay there, wrapped together warm and content.

"Yea?" Jensen asked. "Seems to me, we decided that something about that just yesterday. What was that by the way?" Jensen continued, propping himself up on his elbows, so he had a better view of Jared squirming.

"If we needed to go out, we'd go together," Jared replied grudgingly. "But my wrist is fine and my knock to the head was more a graze, I didn't even have a concussion." Jared tried to plead his case.

Jensen was having none of it.

"That's not the point is it? We both, and I stress both, decided that we didn't like it when the other disappears, not to mention the safety issue, and yet you still did it anyway." Jensen fought the grin that was pulling at the edges of his lips.

"Fine, you're right. I should have waited, or woke your ass up," Jared grumped, pulling the last of his layers, leaving him in sweats and a long sleeve t-shirt. Jared dropped down beside Jensen struggling to get his boots off.

"Damn right," Jensen said as he yanked on Jared's arm sending him backwards onto the floor. The grin that had been lurking finally broke free.

Jared pulled Jensen down on top of his body, opening his legs so that Jensen was cradled between them. He could feel Jensen's hardening length against his own. He rocked up in desperate need of friction, as Jensen rolled his hips grinding down, seeking the same. A gasp tore from Jared's lips at the raw need surging through his blood before he leaned up and devoured Jensen's mouth, licking and nipping tender skin until they were breathless. Jared's tongue swept inside to stroke against Jensen's, sending electric shocks through his veins.

The pace was frantic and wild, neither parting long enough to get their clothes out of the way. Jared worked his hands underneath Jensen's shirt, splaying his fingers across Jensen's back. Jared didn't think he could be any more turned on. He was wrong. The feel of Jensen's muscles shifting under velvety flesh as he moved against Jared was overloading Jared's already taxed senses driving him closer to his orgasm. Jared felt the tingling at the base of his spine the liquid fire speeding from his balls like molten lava. He growled low in the back of his throat, deepening the kiss they were sharing as his body shook through his release, Jensen devoured every syllable every sound and gave it back as his own orgasm racked his body.

Jensen moved to crawl off Jared but was stopped by the large hands across his back tightening their hold and keeping him in place.

"Don't want you to move," Jared panted as he tried to catch his breath.

"Yea, okay." Jensen said, laying his head against Jared's chest, sighing when Jared moved one of his hands to run through Jensen's hair and massage his scalp.

It was some time later when Jensen woke. He pulled himself off Jared. Moving carefully so as not to wake him, Jensen propped himself up on his elbow to gaze down at Jared as he slept, Jared's face was relaxed and all the little worry lines smoothed out. His hair was fanned out across the blankets, his bangs still hanging over his eyes. Jensen reached up, brushing it back until he could see dark eyelashes fanned out against tanned cheeks. Jared's eyes were closed but Jensen could see them moving restlessly under his eyelids, he leaned forward, placing feather soft kisses against each one, smiling as Jared's nose twitched, and he grumbled in his sleep.

Jared slept on unaware of being watched until he turned on his side, his eyelids fluttering open his eyes meeting Jensen's. Jensen's eyes had always fascinated Jared. One minute, they would be a vivid green startling in their clarity, and the next a mysterious hazel, the green flecked with gold, swiriling together to make a color he had never been able to name. Then Jensen would blink and they would be covered by thick, long lashes that brushed freckled cheeks, it was a wonder anyone ever paid any attention to the rest of him. Jared always felt like he was being pulled into the very depths of Jensen's soul when he looked into those eyes.

"Hey, you." Jared said quietly.

"Hey back," Jensen replied smiling.

"Have you been watching me the whole time?" Jared asked.

"No, I woke up not to long ago," Jensen answered.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Hummmm, well I was fascinated with the fact that you were still breathing but there was no sound coming out of your mouth," Jensen stated. He lasted ten seconds before busting out laughing at Jared's pouty face.

"You know I'm just messing with you," Jensen said, trying to stop the laughter bubbling past his lips.

Jared just continued to lay there with his lip poked out, making Jensen laugh even harder.

"I'm going to remind you of that when you want a blow job," Jared grumbled, pulling the blanket over his head.

Jensen snatched the blanket off still grinning, "Oh baby don't be that way, I promise to make it up to you. In the meantime, what do you want for......" Jensen stopped and looked at his watch, "lunch I guess it's too late for breakfast?"

"Don't care. You decide," Jared said snuggling deeper into the blankets.

"All right but we're going to have to get some more snow after we eat. We're almost out of water again," Jensen supplied as he stood, readjusting his sweats. They were uncomfortable but he didn't want to change them until they finished the work they were going to have to do this afternoon, they only had a limited amount of clothes as it was.

Jared peeked out from under the blankets, watching Jensen move around the cabin getting lunch ready. Jensen had chosen some of the canned stew beef instead of going with the packaged meals, Jared's stomach growled loudly, agreeing with the choice. He grinned and shrugged when Jensen turned at the noise.

"Not hungry are you Jay?"

"Maybe... maybe my stomach's not the only thing hungry," Jared's voice was low and rough.

"Well, we're going to take care of your stomach first and, if you're good maybe I'll take care of the other after we get things ready for tomorrow."

"You know, you're no fun at all," Jared pouted.

"Oh I'm not, am I?" Jensen frowned.

"Nope you're the enemy of fun," Jared stated.

Jensen turned back around smiling as he dished up the stew beef. Jared reached up, taking the bowls that Jensen was holding out so Jensen could grab the cups of water. They talked some more about the route they should take and other things pertinent to their trip. When they finished eating, it was time to start packing up what they wouldn't needing before they left.

It took them most of the afternoon to get things done. Jared took the sled on a trial run loaded with firewood to simulate the weight he would be dragging, he wanted to make sure the modifications he had made would work and not slow them down. He also took the wood inside making a few trips, so they wouldn't have to worry about it the rest of the time they were there.

Jensen filled up the pots and assorted containers he had found at the cabin with snow hoping to cut down on the stops they would have to make. He packed up all the the majority of the food, leaving only what they would need for the rest of their stay.

It was late afternoon when all the preparations were complete. Jensen had placed a pot of water on the stove, so they could clean up from their day of getting dirty, but Jared was a little more interested in them getting dirtier before they tidied up. Jared moved the blankets until they were beside the fire instead of in front of it, and sat back down when he got them situated in just the right spot. He stripped down to his boxers, and settled down to watch Jensen, who wasn't paying any attention to what Jared was doing, so intent on filling up the last few bottles with water.

Jared continued to sit quietly, watching Jensen pack the bottles in one of the duffles, he realized he could sit and stare at Jensen all day long and not be bored. Jensen moved with an easy grace that a dancer would envy, every movement fluid. Combined with all of Jensen's other physical attributes, like those lips and eyes not to mention that ass, Jared would dare anyone not to be fascinated. Of course Jared was leaving out two of the most important things but as far as he was concerned no one was allowed to look much less fantasize about Jensen's freckles God how he loved those freckles and Jensen's bowlegs, and if Jared had anything to say about it, they were going to be a little more bowed by the time he finished with Jensen.

Jared wasn't sure what caught Jensen's attention, if it was the quiet or the feeling of being watched. But when Jensen turned around, catching sight of Jared's steady gaze, his undressed state and the way in which he was sitting, Jared could see Jensen's eyes darken with lust, pupils dilating, breathing going quick and shallow. It mirrored Jared's state down to the letter with one exception, Jared had been hard for the last twenty minutes, Jensen was playing catch up.

Jared watched as Jensen stalked towards him, dropping clothes as he went, Jared lifted his hips and removed his boxers as he watched Jensen drop his. He pulled Jensen down so he was straddling his waist, knees planted on either side of Jared's thighs. Jared pushed his hands through Jensen's short hair, cupping the back of his head and bringing his mouth down so Jared could take possession. Jensen groaned as Jared's tongue slid into his mouth, Jared just angled Jensen's head, so he could get deeper, taste more.

Jensen whimpered as Jared pulled him back by the firm grip in his hair, panting from loss of oxygen and pure unadulterated lust. Jared tightened his hold until Jensen's head was tilted back and he had an unobstructed path to Jensen's long, lean, freckled neck. Jared nuzzled along the column of smooth skin, breathing in the smell of sweat, leftover sex and Jensen, scents Jared was completely addicted to. He licked, nipped and bit across the expanse of Jensen's throat, moving further down to suck a bruise between neck and shoulder. Jensen's body had taken up a continuous rocking motion, rubbing their erections together, precome slicking the way.

Jared moved a hand down to grip Jensen's hip, stilling the movement, and a moan traveled up Jensen's chest at the loss of friction. Jared recaptured Jensen's mouth, delving in repeatedly, as his hand descended over Jensen's back to cup his ass. He massaged along the crease with his fingertips, slowly dipping in to run across the tight puckered hole hidden there, over and over, until the only thing spilling from Jensen's mouth were curses and delicious sounds that Jared fully intended to tape when they made it back. If he ever was willing to share, which he most definitely wasn't, he could make a killing using it for phone sex.

Jared grabbed the bottle of lube, slicking his fingers, Jensen raised up on his knees to give Jared room to slid his hand under and prepare him. Jared ran his tongue over Jensen's collarbone and down to Jensen's nipple, sucking the tight peak into his mouth as he slid two fingers into Jensen's entrance. Jensen whimpered, pushing down onto Jared's fingers, begging for more. Jared bit down, catching the nub between his teeth and torturing it with each flick of his tongue. Jensen grunted as Jared worked a third finger in, relaxing into the burn, grinding down and trying to get Jared deeper. Jared worked his fingers in and out, stretching Jensen. He licked across Jensen's chest, swirling his tongue around his other nipple, giving it the same treatment as its twin.

Jared wasn't going to be able to hold out much longer, not with Jensen riding his fingers, his head thrown back to expose all the marks Jared had left over the last few days. Jared shivered at the picture Jensen made. He didn't know how he had gone so long without having this, but he'd be damned if he went a minute longer.

"Now Jared, please," Jensen pleaded.

"Yea Jen, whatever you want, " Jared breathed, pulling his fingers out, slicking his cock up quickly.

He moved his hands to Jensen's waist, steadying him as he lifted up, lining his cock up with Jensen's hole. He thought he had gone blind when Jensen sank all the way down until he was flush with Jared's body. His mind went blank and his eyes closed without his knowledge at the feel of his cock buried deep in Jensen's body. Jensen began to move, small shifts at first, and then a more pronounced roll of his hips. Jared heard him gasp and felt Jensen's body stiffen under his hands. He knew his cock had brushed against Jensen's prostate when he repeated the motion, dragging a shuddering moan from Jared's lips.

Jared decided it was time he got into the action. He wrapped one hand around Jensen's cock, stroking over the velvety shaft. He twisted his wrist at the top, tightening his grip and spreading the precome along Jensen's cock. On every other stroke, Jared would let his thumbnail scrape across the head, earning him a high pitched keening sound and a jolt of Jensen's hips against his. His other hand skimmed along Jensen's back to lightly rub at the base, teasing at the spot that made Jensen's knees buckle. Jensen's choked off cry was almost enough to send Jared hurtling headlong into his orgasm. He kept stroking across Jensen's back, dipping lower to delve into the valley, running his finger along the rim of Jensen's hole, and feeling where they were connected. Jared continued to stroke across the sensitive rim loving the guttural moans it caused. Jared ran his fingers back up over the slope of Jensen's ass so he could trace his name over the sensitive flesh of Jensen's back, branding him with his touch.

Jared could feel Jensen's body shaking around him and he knew Jensen wasn't going to last much longer. He cupped those perfect round cheeks in his hand, spreading them wider as he thrust up in to Jensen's downward momentum. Jensen's lips were red and swollen where he had chewed on them while trying to delay his orgasm. Jared was determined that Jensen lose his tight riegn of control. He pounded into Jensen angling to hit his prostate dead on each time, when Jared dug his heels into the floor for leverage slamming up in one last brutal thrust, Jensen came exploding between their bodies and screaming Jared's name.

Jared kept pace with Jensen's orgasm, fucking him through it and only letting go of his own when Jensen slumped forward content to finish out the ride with his nose buried in Jared's neck. Jared slid down the wall, shifting them to lay on their sides before he lost all feeling in his legs, and the way Jensen's were bent under him Jared was pretty sure they were already numb. When Jared pulled out, Jensen whined at the loss, it was quickly followed by a moan as Jared ran two fingers through the come on his stomach, and slid them into Jensen's tender hole. Jared couldn't even tell you what possessed him to do it, but there was something so dirty, and so naughty about finger fucking Jensen after he had come inside him that he couldn't stop himself.

Jensen's moans of approval spurred Jared to add a third and then a fourth finger, twisting and turning until he rubbed against Jensen's sweet spot, changing Jensen's moans to pants and whimpers. Jared leaned forward lapping at the come on Jensen's stomach until he was clean. He moved lower, nuzzling the curls at the base of Jensen's cock, breathing in the smell of Jensen, sex, and home. Jensen was already half hard, the stimulation to his prostate helping his recovery time despite his fucked out state. Jared would play his fingertips across the nub buried deep inside and Jensen's cock would twitch, hitting Jared in the chin where he was hovering over it.

Jensen's body came off the floor like a jolt of electricity had traveled through him when Jared took him into his mouth sucking gently at the salty sweet taste, licking around the head, dipping his tongue into the slit and lapping at the remnants of Jensen's first orgasm. Jared sealed his lips around Jensen's cock, sucking him in all the way to the base as he relentlessly fucked him with his fingers. When Jensen came the second time, it was with a deep shudder, cock pulsing out a small amount of come, Jared heard his name called again but in a hoarse, shredded voice. It sent shivers up his spine that he could do this to Jensen, that he had this much power over another human being, much less this intelligent, sensitive, beautiful man.

Jared released Jensen's cock with a pop, only realizing when Jensen didn't twitch that he had passed out. He went about cleaning himself and then Jensen up, a smug smile of satisfaction plastered across his face, something he never would have been wearing had Jensen been conscious. He threw a few more logs on the fire, tugging their blankets until they were back in front of the fireplace, before sliding in beside Jensen. He fell asleep, no space between them, their heartbeats sharing the same rhythm.

**********************************************************************************************************************************

*Rescue Team*

 

The team walked through the morning, stopping for a few quick breaks. At noon, they stopped for an hour, so they could eat and digest their food. Gideon told them they had about fifteen miles to go before the reached the last cabin. He didn't add that if the guys were at the cabin they should start seeing smoke in the next seven or eight miles, but he had a feeling they already knew that. Gideon had already caught them staring at the horizon with an intensity that would be daunting if you were the object of interest.

It was well past four when Steve thought he saw the first curls of smoke. He glanced over at Chris to see if there was a reaction. When he didn't see one, he snapped his mouth shut, not wanting to get Chris' hopes up for something that might be his imagination playing tricks on him. Steve looked around, spotting Tom and Chad. There seemed to be no recognition of anything different on their faces. He twisted around the other way looking for Mike. He found him a few feet back talking to Shawn, but when Steve met his eyes, Mike gave a quick smile and a slight nod.

Steve hadn't realized he was holding his breath until it rushed out at Mike's acknowledgement, Chris looked over at him concerned.

"You okay"

"Yea, just thinking," Steve lied.

"You sure? I can let Gideon know we need a break if you need to rest," Chris said, his face set in worried lines.

"Seriously, I'm fine. We shouldn't be that far away now," Steve replied trying to put Chris' mind at ease.

"Okay, but I swear if you fall out on me, I'm going to kick your ass," Chris grumbled.

Steve grinned as he caught hardheaded and dumbass as Chris continued to mumble to himself. Steve loved Chris' special style of affection. Not only did he understand Chris' gruff demeanor but he found it oddly endearing, and, no, he would never say that out loud, not unless he wanted to become acquainted with Chris' knuckles in his most sensitive areas.

Steve estimated they had walked another four miles before he was able to make out a distinctive pattern of smoke, Chris' whole body stiffened beside him. He reached out, placing a hand on Chris' arm to steady them both, relief washing over him. He was just about to yell back at the others when Chad's voice cut through the quiet.

"Well, hot damn!" Chad exclaimed.

"Don't get too excited, we don't know what shape they're in," Tom stated.

"Well, thank you Mary Sunshine," Mike growled.

"I'm just saying, is all," Tom said, holding his hands up in surrender.

Gideon's sharp whistle pierced the air, halting all conversations. When everyone was gathered together and quiet Gideon started talking. He wanted to make sure everyone understood that while the smoke was a really great sign, it could be anyone using the cabin. Gideon also told the team that he thought it would probably be a good idea for one or two of Jensen and Jared's friends to be the ones to approach the cabin.

Gideon had been on several rescues where the unfortunate persons being rescued were confused and paranoid, usually steaming from head trauma or fever. He felt things would go better if a familiar face was the first one, they saw. It was a given that Chris would be the first to the door. Not only was Chris not going to have it any other way, he had known Jensen the longest. Mike decided for everyone else that Chad would put his life on the line because nobody really wanted to be accosted by a six foot forever of giant that might be disoriented.

The next few miles seemed to take forever when, in reality, it was only an hour, hour and a half tops. The closer, they got to the cabin, they were able to tell whoever was there seemed to be moving around fairly well. There were two sets of tracks moving around the surrounding area, drag marks leading in a figure eight pattern, which still didn't make sense as to why they were in that particular pattern but hell what had so far. By the time the cabin came into view, it was all Steve could do to keep Chris from sprinting the rest of the way. 

Chad had pulled even with them, pointing out the sled leaning against the wall of the cabin, as they walked the last few yards. When they were within a few feet of the cabin everyone stopped, settling down to await the outcome. Shawn stayed alert in case he was needed, and Gideon was already setting up his laptop and satellite phone preparing to call in transport to haul everyone out.

They were finally minutes away from finding out if their friends were safe inside or if the search would continue, but Chris and Chad were almost scared to finish the short walk to the door.

The closer they got, the sicker Chris felt and, from the fidgeting that Chad was doing, he knew the other man wasn't fairing any better than he was. As they approached the door, Chad broke the silence.

"Do you think we should knock?" Chad asked.

"Why would we knock?" Chris asked confused.

"I don't know, just seemed the thing to do," Chad whispered.

Chris looked at Chad like, he has lost his mind, "Dude why are you whispering?"

Chad shrugged, pushing his hands in his pockets, watching as Chris reached for the door handle.

When it swung open, they both peered in. The first things they noticed were the bags packed beside the door as if someone was readying to leave, then the scattered clothes on the floor. Chad cocked his head to the side to see around Chris and to follow the progression of clothes marching across the floor, a t-shirt, sweats, boxers. Boxers? When their eyes finally fell on their friends, they were just a little taken back... okay they were completey flabbergasted. Jared had his arms wrapped around Jensen, face buried in Jensen's hair. Jensen's face was resting against Jared's chest and one of his hands was laying over Jared's heart. The blanket that was draped over them, had fallenl below their stomachs, and it was blatantly obvious that neither was wearing any clothes.

"Huh," Chad stated.

"Guess we should have knocked," Chris said.

They stood there for a minute not sure what to do. Chris finally walked in, reaching down to shake Jensen's shoulder, Chad stood off to the side, smirking at all the fun he was going to have teasing Jared. Chris raised his voice a little, shaking Jensen's shoulder harder to get him to wake up. Jensen's eyes blinked open, the look of confusion that crossed his face would have been priceless if Chris hadn't been so damn glad to see his friend alive and more than well.

Comprehension came quickly after that, Jensen sat straight up, grabbing the blanket and pulling it up higher. He continued to stare at Chris, not saying anything, afraid if he did Chris would be an illusion or reality. Jensen wasn't sure which one scared him the most, but when he looked towards the choked giggle coming from beside Chris he knew it was all too true. Damn, Murray had enough shit on them now to get just about anything his deviant little heart could come up with.

"Me and Chad, we're going to step outside and give you and Jared there a chance to pull yourselves together," Chris said, grinning.

Jensen didn't say anything, feeling it was probably in his best interest to just sit and blink his eyes as they walked out the door, if you can call stumbling out laughing hysterically, walking out the door that is. When the door shut behind Chris and Chad, Jensen leaned over shaking Jared awake. Jared blinked up at him sleepily, confusion evident in his hazel eyes.

"We've been rescued, " Jensen stated as he wrapped a blanket around himself and went in search of their clothes.

"What are you talking about?" Jared asked looking around, "Is this a leftover symptom of your head injury?"

"No, Chris and Chad were just in here. Now get up and get dressed. I think they were just the scouting party," Jensen said, holding Jared's clothes out to him.

"What do you mean they were just in here?" Jared asked, as he dressed quickly.

"I mean Chris was shaking my shoulder, and Murray was standing there giggling, the little fucker," Jensen scowled as he hoped around on one foot trying to get his sock on.

"Huh,"

"Huh, all you have to say is huh. Do you have any idea the shit we're in?" Jensen moaned, finally getting his socks and boots on.

"Well, it could have been Mike," Jared stated as he folded up the blankets they had been sleeping on. The horrified look on Jensen's face was enough to have him doubling over with laughter.

"That's not even funny," Jensen growled.

"Actually, yea it was," Jared gasped between bouts of giggles.

"Has anyone told you lately you're a bitch?" Jensen asked, opening the door.

"Yep, Dean tells me all the time," Jared chirped, clearing the doorway to meet the people that had come to take them home.

As expected Chris and Chad kept giving them 'I know what you did' looks, while Steve and Tom kept asking if they were sure they were okay. Even Shawn clearing them of no major injuries didn't seem to be enough to convince the two men. Mike, of course, regaled them with tales of close calls, and near death experiences in their bid to save Jensen and Jared. He even tried to throw a polar bear escape in but was promptly smothered with his toboggan. Jensen and Jared both were overwhelmed that their friends had taken it upon themselves to be part of the rescue team. Chris just looked at them like they were stupid when Jared voiced the thought. Steve on the other hand just told them that they would have done the same, to which they both agreed.

Gideon was not in the least shocked that the occupants of the cabin had been Jensen and Jared. He had made the call for transportation out as soon as Chris and Chad made their way back to the group. Shawn was headed towards the door to check on their condition when the door had swung open and the Jared walked through.

Gideon had seen pictures of both of the men he was sent to find but none of them gave any indication just how big the man truly was. It was sorta of staggering. Jensen followed a few seconds later, looking like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming eighteen wheeler, Mike was right about one thing, the boy didn't like a lot of attention and a full on rescue party was a lot of attention.

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"So what do you make of them?" Shawn asked as he leaned against the rail where Gideon was perched.

"What do you mean, what do I think about them? Gideon asked back.

"Were they what you were expecting?"

"Yea pretty much, although Jared is one big mother fucker. It's a good thing he's so laid back, I would not want to make him angry," Gideon stated.

"I was thinking the same thing when he walked out of the cabin, but that was nothing compared to the fifth degree I got when I was checking Jensen out," Shawn said, shaking his head.

"Why? What happened?"

"Well, I was interrogated about my qualifications, nicely of course. Seems he felt I was too young to be a real doctor," Shawn said with a grimace. "Then, when Jensen tried to tell me he was fine, Jared started to recite Jensen's list of injuries, starting with the prolonged loss of consciousness, the concussion, and the ankle injury. He also let me know every symptom he had witnessed in the last nine days. Of course neither one of them wanted to tell me where Jensen got the bruises that were all along his neck, collarbone and chest." Shawn grinned.

Gideon snickered, "I bet, although I'm thinking Jensen is no pushover either, not to have survived said injuries and to make it as far as they did without further hurting themselves."

"Nope, no pushover. He was more than happy to share Jared's injuries and all the bad things he did to aggravate them," Shawn laughed, shaking his head. "Being around those two would never get boring."

"You know, Steve and Chris told me that they're silent conversations were nothing compared to Jensen and Jared's. I thought they were exaggerating but I sat there and watched Jensen and Jared while they were talking to their friends about everything that had happened and it was damn eeire."

"Why?"

"They finished each other's sentences, and when they moved around each other, it was like they had a sixth sense for where the other was at all times. Then there were the times where they didn't say anything at all, but there would still be a reaction from the other, whether it was a raised eyebrow or a smile. It was just rather amazing to see someone have that kind of connection with another human being." Gideon explained, staring out into the twilight.

Shawn nodded having seen some of what Gideon was talking about. "What time is the transport supposed to be here?"

Gideon looked at his watch, "About another thirty minutes or so."

They stood quietly listening to the night sounds, relaxing after days of stress and tension.

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Neither Jensen nor Jared could believe their friends had accompanied the rescue team. Although they knew they would have done the same thing, it was just hard for them to comprehend that someone would do the same for them, even though they knew their friends loved them. After they had been checked over by Shawn, they spent the rest of the wait for transportation finding out how their friends managed getting onto the resuce team.

Chris and Steve told them about the lengths they were prepared to go to if they weren't allowed to go with the rescue team. They laughed at Mike and Tom who mused whether they would have a job when they got back since they ran out in the middle of a shoot. They weren't really worried about it but it was hilarious to watch Jensen and Jared freak about it anyway. Chad told them that he had called his producer on the way to the airport. He said they hadn't been happy but he told them they could shoot a cat fight or two and he'd be back before they knew it.

Jensen and Jared told their friends about the plane going down and waking up not knowing where the other was. When Jared recounted finding David, Jensen slipped his hand into Jared's entwining their fingers, and squeezing his hand at the crack in Jared's voice. Jensen recounted Jared finding his candy and nearly giving him a heart attack. Their friends listened to them tell about walking through the snow and wind to find the cabin. What they didn't tell them is how they had come to be laying naked, wrapped around each other. No one brought it up but Jensen knew it was just a matter of time before one of the guys broke and asked.

The transport landed forty-five minutes later. Everyone loaded up, happy to be headed back to civilization. Jensen and Jared were informed that they would be checked into the hospital overnight whether they wanted to be or not. They were told their parents would meet them there and be able to see them once they had a thorough checkup. Gideon asked someone at base to call Eric who had apparently been burning up the phone line over the last several days. He also arranged rooms for Chris,Steve, Tom, Mike and Chad at the same hotel Jensen's and Jared's parents were staying in. He knew that they were wiped out, not only physically, but emotionally as well, the adrenaline that kept them moving for nine days leaving them shortly after finding their friends alive and well.

Once they landed, Jensen and Jared were whisked away to be poked and prodded. The rescue team headed in to base to make a report and the five friends fell face first into their hotel beds, not moving for the next twelve hours. Jensen and Jared were each given a private room so that their families could be near them, something both the men and their loved ones needed. At the same time not being together didn't feel right, they had spent every single minute of the last nine days in the other's space and now they weren't even in the same room much less the same bed.

Jensen finally gave up trying to get his parents to go back to the hotel, so they could get a decent night sleep when his mom looked him straight in the eye and told him, as long as she was alive she called the shots and he just better get over it. Jensen couldn't help but smile because that was his mama. He did, however,1 win the battle of getting his brother and sister to leave and get rest but only because his mom decided they needed the sleep, and they could come back in the morning and pick them all up.

When Jensen snuggled into the blankets, the only thing he could think about was Jared and the fact that they were back in the real world. His time of having something for himself was over. He couldn't blame Jared. Stressful situations could lead to uncharacteristic behavior, and he wasn't going to make Jared feel uncomfortable for something he was sure the his friend would see as a mistake in the clear light of day.

Jensen curled in around himself, missing the feel of Jared's arms around him, Jared's warm body pressed against his, it was a physical ache that Jensen didn't know if he was going to survive. He was glad, he wasn't hooked up to a heart monitor because he was sure they would have a crash cart beside his bed trying to revive him. His heart felt like it was being ripped out of his chest, still beating at the thought of not having with Jared, what they shared the last few days. Jensen was pretty sure there wasn't enough glue in the world to piece togother his broken heart.


	14. Chapter 14

They had been back a week and hadn't been alone more than five minutes, and even then the possibility of someone walking through the room was too great to even start a conversation much less anything else. They were going back to work on Monday, not normal hours since Eric wanted them to heal a little more. He didn't want everyone to get back into a groove, only to have Jensen's ankle or Jared's wrist start acting up and stall everything. Kim agreed it was better for them to do a little and heal right than to not and screw themselves up.

Chad had hauled ass back to North Carolina as soon as the hospital cleared them. He wasn't happy about it but the network had help up shooting while he was gone. Chris and Steve flew out to finish up their respective tours, promising to be back the next month to visit. Mike and Tom stopped by every other day just to reassure themselves that everything was again right in their world. They had headed back to the set the day after getting back, shooting had been held for them as well, and they needed to make up almost two weeks of filming.

Jared was at the airport seeing his family off, but all he could think about was Jensen. Jensen's family had left two days before, and everyone else had already left or going back to work, leaving Jensen with a huge amount of time to think. Something that was never a good thing as far as Jared was concerned, especially, when he could see the bricks being laid for the new emotional walls that Jensen already built at least chest high.

Jared had been watching Jensen pull into himself more and more as the days went by. Jared called Jensen two nights running to check on him, and each time Jared could feel the distance widening. When he called Jensen, Jared could almost feel the anguish across the line, but Jensen always said he was fine just tired. Jared knew that if he didn't do something soon those walls would be impregnable. Jared loved his family, but he was happy to finally have them on their way home, so he could put a halt to the retreat Jensen was enacting.

Jared called Jensen's cell, but it kept going to voice mail and when he had drove past Jensen's house, the car was gone. Jared didn't want to worry any of their friends, but he wasn't willing to wait any longer either. It took him most of the day, but he had contacted Mike, Tom and Steve, none of whom knew where Jensen had gone. Jared assured them everything was fine, and he would call them when he caught up with Jensen. Jared finally broke down and called Chris, catching him in between a practice session and an interview.

"Hey Jared, can't talk long. Everything okay?" Chris asked.

"Yea things are fine, my family just left. I'm looking for Jensen. Did he tell you what he was up to?"

"He called me yesterday, wanted to let me know he was going out to that cabin, we rented last year. Remember? On the lake." Chris said, "Didn't he call you? He said he was going to."

"No not that I know of. If he did, I didn't get the message," Jared answered, not wanting Chris to worry.

But it was too late for that. Chris apparently had been worried even before Jared's call.

"Man, I don't know what's gone down between you two. I hope I don't have to come up there and beat your ass, but Jenny's not good," Chris sighed.

"What do you mean?" Jared asked, fear creeping up his throat.

"I mean, he's not sleeping, wasn't the whole time Steve and me were there. I think he's having nightmares, but he says he's fine. Then there's the whole being withdrawn, not socializing at all, not that he's a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination. He should be bouncing off the walls he finally has what he's wanted for two damn years but hell, he's taken himself off to a cabin in the middle of the woods to be alone." Chris wound down, frustration lacing his voice.

"What was it that he wanted?" Jared asked confused.

"You, ya dumb ass. Haven't you talked at all?" Chris asked exasperated.

"Well no, that's the problem." Jared sighed. "We haven't. Neither one of us has been alone long enough to. His family left two days ago and mine just left so he's had two days on his own to freak."

"Shit!" Chris growled. "That explains the trip then."

"Why? What did he say?" Jared asked. His stomach felt like there was a twenty pound weight sitting in it.

"You know Jenny, he's not going to say anything. I can just hear it when he's talking, course it's even easier if I can see his face. I just know he's not good, sounds like, he's found himself a hole and is burrowing in for the long haul," Chris said. "Do you need me to come out there and see what I can do?"

"No, I think I can handle it. I just had to find out where he went," Jared assured. "Was he leaving this morning?"

"I think he left last night or at least that's what I'm thinking he'd do if he's gone to ground to lick his wounds," Chris responded.

"All right, thanks man. I've got a couple of stops to make before I leave, and it was what a good two hour drive?" Jared asked.

"Yea as long as you don't hit traffic in the city. Call me and let me know everything's okay." Chris ordered.

"I will, just don't expect a call tonight. I have a feeling I'm going to be otherwise occupied," Jared replied, as he told Chris goodbye

"Yea, I'm going to be busy all right, kicking Jensen's stubborn ass," Jared growled, as he turned his car around, calling Mike as he went.

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Jensen made it to the cabin an hour or so before dark. He started a fire and grabbed some extra logs to last through the night. The cabin had three bedrooms each with their own fireplace but Jensen was content to stay in the main room curled up under a blanket. Just thinking about spending the night in a huge bed alone made his stomach churn.

He had been sitting by the phone, not even realizing it until Eric called and asked what he was doing and how he was feeling. He knew when he hung up that getting away was going to be the only way to get his head on straight. Jensen couldn't let the fact that he was a wreck affect the show and cause everyone else to suffer, they were already behind as it was. He wasn't going to add to the problem.

Jensen didn't want Jared to know just how messed up he was over everything that had happend. Every time he thought about how badly he missed Jared it was like a weight pressing on his chest making it difficult to take a breath. It was his fault after all. He'd wanted things, impossible things, things he had no business wishing for and the pain of that loss was a constant companion. Letting Jared go was going to kill him, but it was something he would do to ensure that Jared was happy. Jensen didn't want to lose his best friend over his own selfish need for more.

Jensen blamed his morose outlook on not sleeping well. When he didn't get enough sleep, he tended to be cranky and depressingly pessimistic. Now that he didn't have Jared right beside him, his warm weight pressed against his back, Jared's breath whispering across his neck, his dreams had taken on a 'what if' spin. He kept waking up in a cold sweat, Jared's bloody and bruised body burned into his brain. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Jared's staring back at him, the light extinguished, the gaze clouded and lifeless. Jensen was pretty sure he was suffering from some form of post traumatic stress, but his mama always said he was stubborn. As long as no one but him knew, then it wasn't something he couldn't handle, or better yet ignore, whichever worked was good for him.

He spent the night vacillating between dozing off and jerking awake, his frustration climbing at the continued war his subconscious was waging with his fears. Jensen finally gave up as the sun was peeking over the horizon, pink and orange fingers of light reaching out to chase the darkness away. He sat by the window sipping his coffee and wishing the darkness that surrounding him was so easily dispatched.

When he decided to leave the city and come to the cabin, he had called Chris to let him know. Phone service this far out was spotty at best, and he didn't want Chris tearing his way back to Vancouver only to find him feeling sorry for himself. An ass kicking from Chris was not a pleasant experience, and he wasn't interested in being on the receiving end of Chris' infamous 'you're a dumbass' speeches. Mike and Tom would just assume he was with Jared, and Jared's parents weren't leaving until Sunday, so he wasn't too worried about Jared looking for him.

Jared had called him every night, checking to make sure he was okay, but the conversations were always rushed. Jensen didn't want to take up time that Jared could be spending with his parents, not to mention he didn't want to talk to Jared long enough for his friend to start worrying about the sound of his voice. Jensen could act, but he knew once Jared got a whiff of distress, he'd be in Jensen's face faster than alcohol disappeared around Mike. He figured Jared would chalk up his not answering his phone to being with Mike and Tom and not hearing his phone.

Jensen decided a walk might help him clear his head, Jared was the only thing inhabiting his brain of late and it was slowly driving him insane. Jensen quickly pulled on his coat and boots, grabbing his backpack on the way out the door. He left his cell on the table knowing damn well he wasn't going to get a signal tromping through the woods. His short walk turned into a five-hour hike. Jensen as he took the well-traveled path instead of the steeper less walked one. He didn't want to re-injure his ankle two days before shooting started again.

The day started out cold but as the sun moved across the sky to its highest peak, the temperature warmed. Jensen was able to shed his heavier coat, shoving it through the straps of his pack, leaving him in only three layers and making him smile at the thought of real life mimicking television. He rambled along the trail through shadowy leaf strewn paths, light filtering between the canopy trees intermittently. Jensen breathed in the cold, clean air, some of the tension leaving the set of his shoulders. He followed the leaves skittering along with the slight breeze all the way to the small stream they had found last summer when they were exploring.

Jensen sat down near the edge watching the moving water as it slid sluggishly across rocks rubbed smooth with age and repetiton. The water licked at the thin slivers of ice clinging to the edges of the streams bank. His thoughts wandered to where they invariably went anytime he wasn't completely occupied with work. Jared had consumed his thoughts for much longer than he was willing to admit. Jensen knew with the added knowledge of what Jared felt and tasted like imprinted on every sense, he'd never be free of this all encompassing need.

Two hours had passed before Jensen looked down at his watch, shocking him into motion. It would be getting dark soon, and he had a right good ways to get back. The temperature was already starting to fall and he had no desire for a repeat performance of freezing his dick off. He shoved the blanket he'd been sitting on back in his pack and threw his coat on as he started making his way back to the cabin.

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Jared was not a happy camper. It had taken him an hour to get in touch with Mike, who of course, was more than happy to watch the dogs. Jared was beginning to wonder who really watched whom in that equation but he had more pressing things to deal with so that particular mystery would have to wait for a later date. He made it home, packed a bag and dropped Harley and Sadie off in under an hour. Unfortunately, traffic sucked ass and what should have been a two hour drive, turned into four.

Jared sat in traffic contemplating what to do about Jensen. They weren't leaving that cabin until Jensen got it through his thick head that Jared was not letting him go, even if it required handcuffs and a gag. The mental picture that inspired almost had Jared rear ending the vehicle in front of him, yep, that was definitely something to investigate at a more appropriate time. Jared continued to call Jensen's phone. Each time it went to voice mail, sending Jared's stress level a little higher until he swore he saw it shooting through the roof.

He didn't like the fact that Jensen was hiding things from him. He liked that Jensen, with only a minimum amount of sleep, had driven out into the woods where his cell phone obviously didn't have service even less. Jared knew that Jensen was only doing what he thought was in his best interests, but the man was going to have to understand that he didn't always know what was best. The last time he checked, he was well over the age of knowing his own mind and if there was one thing Jared knew for sure was that Jensen was his, and for as long as Jensen wanted him, Jared belonged to him. It frustrated him to no end that Jensen didn't think he was allowed what Jared was offering, or maybe he hadn't been clear enough letting him know exactly what he wanted.

When Jared cleared the city he floored it, praying he wouldn't get stopped. He didn't care about another ticket, he just didn't want it to keep him from Jensen any longer than necessary. He continued trying Jensen's phone, adding another message to the several he'd left over the day. Yep those handcuffs were looking better and better. Jared kept running conversations through his head, looking for the best way to make Jensen see that not only did he deserve to be happy, but that Jared wanted to be the cause of that happiness.

He was coming up on the turn that would take him down the rough unpaved road leading to Jensen. The closer he got the faster his heart beat. Jared wasn't sure if it was nerves or excitement. Of course it could be unadulterated panic. He was pretty damn sure if he didn't get this right Jensen was going to slip through his fingers and that just wasn't going to happen as long as he was living.

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Jensen made it back to the cabin as the shadows slid past to steal the last rays of light. He headed straight to the shower, never once glancing at his phone, and it's flashing red light. The hot spray of the water beat down against his tired muscles, uncoiling the tension and relaxing him into a dazed state of existence. He leaned his head against the cool tiles, waiting for a surge of energy that would help pull him upright and out of the shower. When that never occurred, and with the real possibility of the water running cold, Jensen shut the water off and climbed out. He hadn't bothered to bring his clothes in with him and the chill in the air made him regret the decision.

"Time to put some more logs on the fire," he mumbled, wrapping a towel around his waist and drying his hair as he opened the door.

"Time to start answering your damn phone too," Jared growled, holding the phone in front of Jensen's face.

Jensen's high-pitched shriek would have been fodder for many a round of teasing, if Jared hadn't been so irate. As it was Jared filed it away for future mention.

"What in the fuck did you think you were doing coming up here alone and not telling me?" Jared asked, trying to stay calm.

"I wasn't aware I needed to tell you where I was going anytime I left the house," Jensen replied, still clutching his chest. "And what the fuck was that scaring the shit out of me? You almost gave a fucking heart attack."

"It's not like you stepped out to the grocery store man, you left town."

"Well yea, but I didn't leave the state, or province or what the hell ever it's called."

"No you come to a cabin in the middle of nowhere with a phone that you don't answer and the only person you tell is Chris who is in freaking Tennessee." Jared said, truly frustrated.

"You called Chris?"

"Yes, not to mention Tom and Mike. You're lucky I didn't call Steve, or he would have beat me here."

"But you called Chris!" Jensen repeated, stunned. He knew that Chris had a tendency to scare people in with his intensity, especially when it was about his friends.

"Yes Jensen, I called Chris. We also had a very enlightening conversation. Seems he's worried about you."

"That's because Chris is like a mama bear without cubs. He has to let those maternal feelings out somehow," Jensen snarked.

"Maybe but in this case I think he has a point. Why didn't you tell me you weren't sleeping?"

"I've been sleeping," Jensen refuted.

"What? Two hours at a time? Man, you look like you haven't had a whole night's sleep in a week," Jared shot back.

Jensen stayed silent, knowing that he'd just dig himself a hole he couldn't crawl out of. The mood Jared was in, he'd pounce on any lie or half truth and beat him over the head with it.

Jared waited for an answer from Jensen, when none was forthcoming, the breath he'd been holding without realizing it wheezed out. Jared started to take in the other facets of Jensen's appearance starting with the fact that he was shivering, still only dressed in a towel, droplets of water dripping from his hair and sliding in slow rivulets down his neck and over his chest. Jared swallowed thickly, trying to regain control. As bad as he wanted to lay Jensen underneath him and worship him, he had to make Jensen understand he wasn't going anywhere, that all he wanted was for them to be together.

"Why don't you go get dressed before you freeze to death," and wasn't that the hardest thing Jared had ever had to say in his life. "I'm going to throw some more logs on the fire. It's getting chilly in here." 

Jensen watched him move to the fireplace, perplexed at the emotions rolling off Jared. Sure not calling him and telling him he was leaving town might have irrated him but not to the extent of searching him down and yelling at him. He continued to stand there, head cocked to the side, contemplating Jared's appearance at the cabin, until a shudder wracked his body shaking him out of his self induced stupor and sending him on a hunt for warm clothes.

"You do know it's supposed to snow again tonight right?" Jared asked, raising his voice so Jensen could hear him in the bedroom.

"Um, no. I haven't really been paying attention to the news. It was warm out this afternoon, I even had to take my heavy coat off," Jensen answered, rounding the corner still buttoning his shirt.

"Cold front moving in, weather channel says we may get a few inches,"

"Shit, then we need to pack up and leave now. Eric will kill us if we get snowed in and have to call off another day of shooting," Jensen stated, turning around intending on grabbing his gear. Most of it was still packed. He hadn't felt like doing much of anything, since he'd gotten there.

Jared reached out and grabbed his arm as he was turning. "We're not going anywhere until you talk to me. I don't care if we're snowed in for a week, Eric can get the hell over it or find replacements for all I care. The only thing I'm worried about is what's going on with you."

Jared watched the air of control slip away and the fear flash through Jensen's eyes before the walls started going up. "Stop right now," Jared growled out, intent on catching Jensen before he could slam the doors shut and throw away the key.

"Stop what? I'm not doing anything," Jensen denied.

"The hell you're not, you're shutting me out, and I'm fed up with it. I've called you every night that we've been back, and I can feel you pulling away day by day." Jared stated as calmly as he could with his heart slamming against his ribs hard enough to crack them.

"My parents were there, not to mention yours. What the hell did you want me to do?"

"How about call me, or hell, even call me back when I left messages," Jared responded, shoving his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Jared, your family was there. I didn't want to intrude."

"Jensen, I swear to God, I'm going to throttle you. How many times have I told you, you could never intrude? Let me answer that, about a million and that was before we started............." Jared stopped not even knowing what to term what they had started. He knew what he wanted to call it but Jensen was as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, and he wasn't sure using the R word was going to help.

"Before we started what? Sex, fucking, bumping uglies," Jensen scoffed.

Jared had, had it. "No Jensen before we started this relationship." He shot Jensen a quelling look when Jensen started to interrupt. "Don't even try to belittle it, Jensen, I see the way you look at me, the way you treat me. That's not just sex or fucking or whatever junior high term you can come up with. I heard you when you told me you loved me so you can lie to yourself all you want, but you can't lie to me," Jared ended, finally running out of steam.

The stricken look on Jensen's face was enough to tell Jared he may have let fly with just a little too much information. It really wasn't hard to see what Jensen was thinking. The progression of feelings were all there, flashing through brilliant green eyes, shock, panic, hurt and despair. Each emotion cut into Jared as they laid Jensen bare, flayed under the weight of his own feelings, feelings that he couldn't escape, feelings that he thought weren't returned.

Jared swore when he got this mess straightened out, he was going to find each and every person that had ever hurt Jensen and skin them alive before feeding their bodies to swine. He was a laid back kind of guy so thoughts like those should have shocked him but when it came to protecting Jensen, he realized he'd do a hell of a lot more damage than he ever thought he was capable of. Jared shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from either shaking some sense into Jensen or yanking the man to him and smothering him. Once he wrapped his arms around him, Jared knew it was going to be a long time before he let go, and they really needed to get everything into the open, so they could move forward instead of being stuck in this holding pattern they had established over the past week.

Jensen was pinned under the weight of Jared's stare. He wanted to turn and run, but there was nowhere to run to. His feelings for Jared weren't going to disappear, he had been kidding himself if he thought he could hide from them, they overlay everything he did, everything he felt. There truly was no escape, and the realization filled him with a bone deep despair that he didn't know if he would be able to survive. He couldn't even leave to make things right, because wherever he went, he'd be carrying it with him, it saturated his pores and lived in every nook and cranny of his being.

Jared couldn't watch Jensen tear himself apart anymore. The slump of Jensen's shoulders pierced his heart, leaving a jagged path of destruction in it's wake. He pulled one hand out of his pocket to cup Jensen's chin, lifting until Jensen's face, and waited until Jensen's eyes lifted to his.

"Stop," Jared whispered, "I know you didn't want me to hear, but I'm not sorry I did. How long would you have taken to tell me otherwise?"

"Never," Jensen whispered back, eyes falling away from Jared's to the floor below.

"Why?" Jared asked, even though he knew the answer. He dropped his hand and stepped back just a little, so he wouldn't give into the desire to wrap Jensen up and hide him away from the world.

"Because you don't feel the same way, it was just the stress of the situation. You needed to know we were both alive, and I was there. You're not even gay Jared. I don't want you to do something that you'll look back on in a few years and regret, or have you continue something because you feel you owe it to me for some strange Jared reasoning," Jensen explained quietly.

"Did you always know?"

Jensen looked back up, confusion on his face. "Know what?"

"Did you always know you were gay?" Jared clarified.

"No, but...."

"Have you ever seen me do something I didn't want to do?"

"No, but...."

"Do you think I'm too stupid to know what I feel, or what I want? Jared asked.

"No, but....."

"Then I don't understand Jensen. Why do you think you know me better than I know myself?"

"I don't think you're stupid Jay, I think you're confused. You don't know how hard it is to pretend to be something you're not, to let the world see the side of you, they want to see, even if it's not the real you. I don't want you to have to lie about who you are. It eats at you, wears you down until you either burn yourself out on the lies, or you become so tough so cynical, you're not the same person you were when you started," Jensen argued.

"I don't think we need to lie in the first place Jensen. Sure, there would still be roles that were lost to narrow minded people, but the industry has evolved over the last thirty five years, Jen. There are straight men playing gay men and gay men playing straight men. For God's sake, it's acting. Anyone that's worth their weight as an actor can play someone they aren't it's what we do for a damn living. As for the viewing public, yea there will be some bigoted assholes that don't go see a movie or watch a show because the actor doesn't meet their world view, but that's the case now, and I don't mean just actors but the material as well. We can't control what everyone thinks. Come to think about it, I don't give a shit what anyone else thinks. Especially, if it's about us." Jared argued back.

"So you're what? Going to march up to your friends and tell them 'hey guess what I just realized I'm gay, or bi or what the fuck ever?"

"Well no, I thought I would take a page from your book and be a little more tactful but I've already told my family," Jared said quietly.

Jensen stopped with his mouth halfway open. He closed it with an audible snap. His expression changed from confusion to horror. "You told them what Jay?" Jensen whispered.

"I told them I broke up with Sandy and why. I told them what happened when the plane crashed and the fear I felt when I couldn't find you. How when I finally saw you slumped over in that seat, bleeding and trapped that the only reason I didn't rip it apart was I was terrified, I'd hurt you more than you already were. They listened to everything we went through getting to the cabin and keeping each other out of more trouble, and then I told them that we had become a hell of a lot more than friends." Jared took a breath to continue but was stopped by the distressed sound from Jensen.

"Why would you do that? You can't take stuff like that back Jared?" Jensen closed his eyes feeling dizzy as the worry crashed over him at what Jared had done.

"Because Jensen, I'm not going to lie about how I feel."

"What did they say?" Jensen asked, cringing even as he prepared to hear the hurt in Jared's voice. Jensen knew Jared's family loved him but learning your son had not only broken up with the woman he'd been dating for three years was now involved with his co-star, his *male* co-star..... Hell anyone would be shocked by that!

"To what? That I broke up with Sandy? Jared asked.

"Well yea that too, but the fact that you obviously are thinking of switching teams?"

Jared snorted, " Jensen I believe I've passed the 'thinking of' phase two weeks ago and as far as the Sandy thing, my mom says, and I quote 'I knew that wasn't going to last' ."

"And the rest of it?"

"By it I'm assuming you mean the fact that we had sex several times and made love several more?" Jared asked, quirking his brow.

"Is there a particular reason you're being an oblivious ass about this?" Jensen retorted, stress sharpening his voice.

"Well let's see no calls, no return calls, fleeing in the middle of the night, me having to chase you. Maybe." Jared shot back.

"Jared please, what exactly did you tell them and what did they say? There has to be a way to fix it," Jensen pleaded.

"I told them precisely what I would have told you this morning if you hadn't disappeared on me."

Jared reached out, pulling Jensen closer and holding his face in his hands. He wanted to see Jensen's eyes and he wanted Jensen to read the truth in his.

"I told them that I had fallen in love. That the person I was in love with was shy and quiet, that took care of me when I was sick and made me laugh when I was sad. I told them that the person I was in love with walked my dogs and took care of them when I wasn't there to do it, shared my values, understood my fears and kept me grounded when everything was hitting me at once and making me feel out of control."

Jared leaned down placing a light kiss on Jensen's lips before going on.

"I told them that the person I'm in love has the most amazing heart, and owned mine. I told them that the person I was in love with had gorgeous green eyes, too cute freckles, that he was six foot tall and bowlegged. I told them I loved you Jensen, and they could accept it or not but it wasn't going to change how I felt about you."

Jared leaned back down, capturing Jensen's mouth with his, licking along the seam of Jensen's lips until he was granted entrance. He loved kissing Jensen, had lain awake at night remembering the taste, and texture of Jensen's mouth. He ran his tongue along the line of Jensen's teeth and over the roof of his mouth stroking the ridges reacquainting himself with all things Jensen. Jensen whimpered under the onslaught. The sound shot straight through Jared and he pulled back, trying to catch his breath.

Jensen couldn't think. He was pretty sure his brain had melted and run out his ears. Jared not only confessed to his parents that he loved a man, but that he loved him. He didn't think he could possibly love Jared any more than he already did, but he had been sorely mistaken. Jared had taken the life he had made for himself, shaken it up and turned it upside down, letting everything tumble where they may with no thought to just how badly things could go, and all because he loved him.

No one had ever done that for him, and he didn't even know how to react. Jared was watching him with an intensity that made him tremble, but he still needed to know. He needed to know just how badly he'd managed to fuck Jared's life up.

"Jared what did your family say?" Jensen asked again, as he ran a hand up Jared's arm cupping the back of Jared's neck, massaging gently as he waited.

"Oh well it was actually funny." Jared smiled at the unbelieving expression on Jensen's face. "Really it was. Megan told me it was about damn time. Jeff just shook his head and grinned. Dad told me he didn't care if I was seeing an alien. As long as it wasn't Brittney Spears or Paris Hilton, he didn't have a problem with it. But Mom was by far the funniest. She told me it was about time, I got my head out of my ass. She had known there were feelings there for the last two years. She said I was obviously blind because anyone could tell from the way you look at me that you loved me, and I must take after Dad because it had taken her three years to get him to ask her out." Jared finished with a great big grin.

Jensen just shook his head, "You're not lying, are you? You're family really doesn't care?"

"Nope, as long as I'm happy, and they approve of how the other person treats me, then they don't care who it is. Well, with the exception of my dad, he really has issues with Brittney and Paris," Jared said. "Something about spoiled airheads and kids with too much money and not enough sense."

Jensen was still scared to believe he could have this, but his mama didn't raise no fool, and he was going to grab on with both hands. He just needed to make sure Jared was 100% sure that this was what he wanted, because once Jensen claimed him as his and Jared did the same to him, he had no intention of giving it up.

"Jared, are you positive you know what you're doing? That I'm what you want?" Jensen asked. He held his breath waiting for Jared to answer.

"There isn't anything on this earth I want more, except maybe making love to you," Jared answered.

Jensen pulled Jared's mouth down to his, the desperation he had felt the last few days translating to a frantic need to touch and taste. He pulled back staring into Jared's lust blown eyes.

"I love you. I think I've loved you, since I first set eyes on you, but I couldn't admit it, so I went out with anyone and everyone trying to find anything that might fill up the hole not having you was eating into me. When I couldn't deny it anymore going home with someone other than you held no appeal and bringing a stranger home where we hung out made me sick to my stomach. I've tried everything I could think of to stop loving you and nothing ever worked so I just resigned myself to funneling all that energy into my acting and prayed that one day, I'd learn how to deal with it," Jensen admitted.

Jared reached out, tugging Jensen to him, needing to feel the hard planes of Jensen against his body. He ran his hands up Jensen's arms, his palms skimming the line of Jensen's shoulders before settling in the short hairs at the base of Jensen's neck. He tugged gently, angling Jensen's head back as he leaned forward, crashing their mouths together, teeth clicking and tongues dueling. The taste of Jensen spreading across his taste buds, spurred him on, making the kiss deeper the pace more frantic.

He pulled back only when oxygen became a serious need, leaving Jensen's mouth only long enough to take a quick breath. Jared flicked his tongue along the soft swell of Jensen's lips, capturing the bottom one between sharp teeth, worrying the plump flesh held captive and licking away the sting. He heard Jensen moan deep in his throat, the sound sent electricity shooting down his spine. Moving one hand down to the buttons of Jensen's shirt, he walked them backwards to the bedroom Jensen had come out of earlier.

Jared pushed the shirt off Jensen's shoulders as they cleared the doorway. He ran his hands under the remaining shirt, skimming his fingernails over velvety skin. Jensen's sharp intake of breath almost sent him over the edge. He pulled the hem of Jensen's shirt out of his jeans pushing it up and over his head. Jared dropped the shirt where they stood, freeing his hands to trail over Jensen's ribs and around until he could scrape his fingernails along the line of Jensen's spine eliciting a shivering moan that Jared could feel through his fingertips.

He started at the tips of Jensen's ears, kissing, licking and nibbling his way down, stopping at the lobe sucking it between his lips and catching the flesh between his teeth. His tongue flicked out to slide in the maze of Jensen's ear, laving it with slow glides around the whirls, the tremors running through Jensen's body made Jared harder than he had ever been. Jared continued his path down across shoulder blades, lightly tattooed with freckles, tasting each one with the tip of his tongue.

Jared moved behind Jensen, following the ridge of collarbone to the nape of his neck, sucking gently as he moved to the other side. He slid his teeth over the muscled shoulder, blood running thick through his veins pooling in his groin as Jensen's head dropped back to rest against hi's shoulder. He continued the slow erotic torture, sucking bruises into Jensen's neck, tonguing over the welted area with his tongue. He moved in front of Jensen, sitting on the edge of the bed pulling Jensen between his legs.

He ran his hands up Jensen's sides, pulling him even closer, and looked up into pupils blown wide, blood swollen lip caught between teeth. Jensen groaned again when Jared tongued across his nipple, biting down and running his teeth back and forth across the pebbled nub. Jared lavished the same attention on the other nipple stroking along the base of Jensen's spine. He tightened his legs around Jensen's as he slid his fingers across the sensitive area of Jensen's back just as his legs buckled.

Jared pushed Jensen away enough to slide to his knees. He ran his tongue along the rim of Jensen's belly button, delving into the small hole again and again until Jensen gasped his name, and begged for more. Jensen's hands came down on his shoulders gripping tightly to maintain his balance. He nuzzled the hard line of Jensen's cock through his jeans, gently biting across denim covered heat, loving the whimpers coming from above. He ran his fingers along the top of Jensen's jeans, sliding the tip of his finger under the waistband and stroking across heated flesh.

Jared released the button and slowly slid the zipper down, his knuckle skimming across the length of Jensen's cock. He buried his face in the space revealed, inhaling the scent that had haunted him through the past seven nights. Jared peeled jeans and boxers over lean hips, pushing them past thighs, and legs to pool around Jensen's ankles. He helped Jensen step free of them kissing his way back up Jensen's legs until his nose nudged the tight sacks just waiting for attention.

He lapped at each sack, sucking them into his mouth and letting them slowly slide out spit slick, as he dug in his pocket to pull out a bottle of lube that had been warmed by his body heat, popped the cap and slicked a finger. He raised up on his knees swirling his tongue along the rigid shaft bobbing in front of his mouth, sliding his finger over the sensitive skin behind Jensen's balls stroking over it several times on his way to the puckered flesh of Jensen's entrance.

He felt Jensen's hands tighten their hold when he licked across the top of Jensen's cock, the tip of his tongue dipping into the slit to collect the leaking precome oozing from it. When Jared's closed his mouth around the head, he ran his tongue along the bundle of nerves, causing Jensen to buck forward. He wrapped his free hand around the base of Jensen's cock staving off the orgasm he knew was about to come. Pushing the tip of his middle finger into Jensen's hole, he continued to torment the flesh surrounding it with the two fingertips on either side, sliding them back and forth coated with lube.

Jared slid his mouth all the way down Jensen's cock until his lips met the hand holding Jensen at bay. He slipped a second finger in scissoring them relentlessly as he prepared Jensen. When Jared slid the third finger in, he released the grip he had on Jensen's cock, taking him all the way to the back of his throat. Jared's fingers moved in and out stretching the muscle open even further fingertips grazing across Jensen's prostate over and over until Jensen lost control and started to fuck his mouth. Jared hummed as Jensen's thrusts became erratic, the pace brutal as Jared gripped Jensen's hip pushing him forward until his cock was buried in Jared's throat. Jared swallowed once, twice, pulling back just as Jensen screamed his name shooting hot, salty lidded come across his tongue.

Jared let Jensen cock slowly slide out of his mouth, licking across the spent shaft making sure not to miss any come, not willing to lose anything of Jensen. He steadied Jensen as he pulled himself to his feet, turning them until he could lower Jensen to the bed. Jared pulled his shirts over his head, stilling as he caught sight of heavy lidded eyes watching him. Jensen continued to watch as he popped the button on his jeans and slid the zipper down freeing his dick from its denim prison.

Jensen reached out, trying to pull him down, but Jared wanted to finish what he had started, letting Jensen know just how special and loved he was. Once he had kicked his clothes away, he started at Jensen's feet, placing light kisses across every piece of skin he touched. He slowed his progress, sliding Jensen's recovering cock into his mouth again just to feel the weight against his tongue. Then he resumed his journey ending at Jensen's mouth letting him taste his come on Jared's tongue.

Jared knew the sight of Jensen fucked out, and splayed across the bed under him would never become anything less than amazing. He crawled between Jensen's legs, running his hands up the inside of his thighs and scratching blunt nails back down the same path. Jared lifted one muscular leg placing it over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving Jensen's. He slid closer, his dick bumping against Jensen's, causing him to arch trying to find friction for his renewed erection. Jared pushed Jensen's other leg up and to the side, his greedy eyes feasting on the site of a clenching lube slicked hole just waiting to be filled.

He moved forward until his dick brushed against Jensen's entrance, grasping his cock, he slid it back and forth over the same spot until Jensen was writhing beneath him and Jared knew if he didn't get inside Jensen right the fuck then he was going to shoot all over the both of them. Jared pushed forward, the head of his dick breaching the ring of muscle. He pulled back out and did it several more times before slowly sinking in buried to the root, his balls resting against Jensen's ass.

Jared drew back until only the head of his dick was still left inside, pushing back in with a slow steady strokes, keeping that pace until Jensen was emitting a high pitched keening sound and thrashing underneath him. His dick was screaming at him for harderfasternownownow and Jensen was echoing the mantra. His thrusts increased in speed and force, moving faster and pushing in harder. Jared leaned down running his arms under Jensen's back and cupping his shoulders to keep from slamming Jensen into the headboard. The added leverage giving Jared just the right angle and deep penetration to hit Jensen's prostate dead on each time.

Jensen's whole body was quivering under him and Jared could feel the drag Jensen's swollen cock across his belly on each thrust. He knew it would only take a few more times and Jensen would come, he just needed to hold on a little longer. He gritted his teeth and kept up the almost brutal thrusts, Jared would be terrified, he was hurting Jensen if it weren't for the almost whispered yeaJaysogood followed in quick succession by ohfuckohfuckohfuck. The quick little hiccupping breaths that were making their way up Jensen's chest and past his lips were driving Jared insane and with three sharp, fast thrusts Jensen came, slick heat pumping between their bodies.

Jared's whole body seized when Jensen's ass clenched around him, the release he had been denying rolling through him like a tidal wave of molten lava shooting out his cock, filling Jensen's bodywith his come. His vision blurred around the edges as he fucked himself through his release, Jensen's clutching hole milking him dry. He slumped forward, burying his face in Jensen's sweaty neck, panting for breath. When his heartbeat slowed and his breathing had returned to a more normal pattern Jared pulled out, carefully rolling onto his side. He propped himself on his elbow, so he could look at Jensen.

Jensen had fallen asleep, two orgasms and a week of little sleep finally conspiring against him. Jared watched the slow rise and fall of his chest, the long lashes resting against his cheeks, hiding the bruises that told the story of nightmares and depression. Jared reached out and ran a finger lightly over Jensen's nose stroking the sprinkling of freckles. He followed the trail with his eyes taking in all the places he needed to lick and kiss in order to count and love each one. When his eyelids started to droop, he curled up next to Jensen wrapping an arm around his waist. He had to assure himself that it hadn't been his imagination that Jensen was truly there beside him.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jensen woke to moonlight filtering through the window. He already knew he was alone in the bed the absence of a large warm body beside him a cold shot of reality. He sat up not seeing the stack of clothes folded neatly on the desk in the corner.

Jensen leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs, head cradled in his hands. He just had to suck it up, be a man, go back to work and try to go back to being Jared's best friend. Oh God! What if Jared didn't even want that? Jensen groaned long and low the thought of not having Jared in his life enough to cut him off at the knees.

"What did I tell you?" Jared asked.

Jensen jumped a foot off the bed, his breath catching in his throat. "What are you still doing here?"

"Where else would I be Jensen?" Jared stayed leaning against the door frame two coffee cups in his hand.

"Um, Is that coffee?"

"Yes, but you're not having any until you answer my question," Jared stated calmly.

"On your way back to the city?" Jensen asked instead of answering.

"Without you?"

"Well, maybe." Jensen tried backpedaling. He knew it wasn't going to get him anywhere, but he had to at least try. "Can I have my coffee now?"

Jared watched him thoughtfully, "No, I don't think you deserve it."

"You didn't say you had to like the answer. You just said I had to answer the question," Jensen whined.

"Yes, that is what I believe I said but you, my love, didn't give me an answer. You gave me a question and, unless Alex Trebeck has gotten kinky, I don't think he's holding Jeopardy in the bedroom and naked Jeopardy at that."

Jensen looked down at his state of dress, or rather state of undress. He quickly pulled the covers up over his waist before looking back at Jared and poking his lip out. "Please...."

"I swear you're worse than a crack addict. You'd sell your mama for a cup of coffee." Jared moved to the bed handing Jensen the cup.

Jensen inhaled the rich brew. He blew gently over the rim, mere seconds before closing his eyes and letting the strong, hot liquid spill past his lips and down his throat. Jared had to clear his throat, readjust himself and quickly look away. Jensen was going to be without his damn coffee real quick if he didn't stop giving the damn thing a blow job.

"No, but I might sell Josh for one. He's always been the aggravating one," Jensen refuted.

"I thought I had made myself perfectly clear last night."

Jared's statement had hazel green eyes locking with his, and if it hadn't been such an important conversation the swirls of gold glinting in the depths of bright green would have sidetracked him in a second. But at this particular moment, Jensen understanding how he wanted things to be between them was the only thing he cared about.

"I do remember me telling you that I loved you, wanted you and needed you, that you were mine, and I wasn't letting go, and I damn sure wasn't going to go anywhere either." Jared's voice had lowered an octave or two the more he stressed his feelings. "Do you not remember or were we having a different conversation?"

Jensen swallowed at the question. "Yes I remember, but....."

"Yes but what? You think I changed my mind? Do you think I'm that fickle or better yet, that much of an ass to fuck you and leave after I've told you I love you?" Jared asked, his temper starting to flare.

"You didn't fuck me." Jensen mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said, you didn't fuck me."

"Oh so that brain up there is still used for intelligent thought," Jared responded.

"Hey," Jensen yelped.

"Don't hey me. I told you I loved you, that I wasn't going to leave you, and you're right, I didn't fuck you. I loved you, and I plan on doing it over an over again," Jared eased up.

"Okay, I'll work on it," Jensen said. He knew Jared understood and that apparently he couldn't be scared off because the good Lord knew Jensen had sure tried. "It's just going to take me some time Jay. If you're willing to put up with me until I'm not waiting for you to pack your bags, then I'll get it, I swear I will."

Jensen's earnest face was too much for Jared. He leaned forward, pulling Jensen up and across his lap, lifting that sinful mouth to his and giving into the urge to kiss Jensen, he had been fighting since he had woken up and watched Jensen sleep unaware.

Jensen pulled back. He had his head bowed, but he looked up at Jared through his lashes. "Jared, I really enjoyed you loving me....."

"But?" Jared asked fear jolting down his spine.

"But can we still fuck sometimes?" Jensen's lips quirked up at the corners.

"Hell yes," Jared said grinning. "Anything you want Jen, anything at all.

 

The End


End file.
